New Delhi:

Australia has announced that it will be limiting its international student intake to 2.7 lakh in 2025 in a bid to tackle record levels of migration that has led to skyrocketing house rental prices.

The limit includes higher education courses as well as vocational education and training courses, Australia’s Education Minister Jason Clare said today.

The move is set to impact Indian students hoping to go abroad for higher education, especially those from Punjab which accounts for a large number of such students.

“In June 2022, Australia capped the foreign student intake at 5.10 lakh. This number was reduced to 3.75 lakh in 2023. Now they have reduced the annual planning levels further. These levels are accorded to individual universities for all international students and not just for Indian students. The universities will distribute the quotas country wise then state wise,”  Sunil Jaggi, a member of Migration Agents Registration Authority of Australia, said.

“The students who were preparing to take admission for the February intake will get affected by this announcement. Students from Punjab will be worst affected,” he further said.

“This will affect my career. My family is taking loans for my education as the cost of studying in Australia is quite high,” a student from Haryana, who wishes to study nursing in Australia, said.

“The Indian government must put forward students’ point of view to the Australian government,” another student said.

Notably, the Australian Education Minister on a visit to India last year had signed an agreement to expand in-country access to Australian higher education institutions for Indian students.

According to India’s Ministry of External Affairs, around 1.22 lakh students from the country study in Australia. India’s Quad partner is the fourth most popular destination for Indian students studying abroad, after Canada, the US and the UK.

Australia also increased its non-refundable visa fee for foreign students from AUD 710 to AUD 1,600, another measure that seemingly aims to reduce migration levels.

Canada has also announced new restrictions on its temporary foreign workers’ programme. Starting September 26, businesses will only be allowed to fill up to 10 per cent of their workforce with low-wage foreign workers, down from the previous 20 per cent. The decision to limit the number of low-wage foreign workers comes in response to rising unemployment rates in Canada. The overall unemployment rate has climbed to 6.4 per cent, with the rate for younger workers reaching 14.2 per cent.

TOEFL is accepted by more than 12,500 institutions in more than 160 countries. (Representational Image)
| Photo Credit: Getty Images

Scores for English language test TOEFL will now be considered valid for all Australian visa purposes, the Educational Testing Service (ETS) announced on May 6.

The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) was put under review by the Australian Department of Home Affairs (DHA) last July and the scores were no longer being accepted.

ETS, the Princeton-based agency, which conducts the test, said the scores for exams taken on or after May 5, 2024, will be considered valid for the purpose.

Australia is a preferred choice for Indian students and working professionals, with over 1.2 lakh Indian students studying in Australia last year. “Further, with nine Australian universities amongst the top 100 global universities as per the latest QS World University Rankings, Australia offers world-class higher education and post-study work opportunities,” said Sachin Jain, Country Manager, ETS India and South Asia.

TOEFL is a standardised test to measure the English language ability of non-native speakers wishing to get enrolled in English-speaking universities.

Also Read:Decoding the education visa for Australia

The test is accepted by more than 12,500 institutions in more than 160 countries and is universally accepted in popular destinations such as the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, and by over 98% of universities in the U.K.