Australian Government - Department of Education, Study pathways of international students in Australia, Research Paper 2014/1, 2014. Pages: 14

This research paper presents the findings of the Department of Education’s annual analysis of the major study pathways undertaken by international students through Australia’s education system. The report reveals the results of an annual analysis of the sectors international students first choose when they come to Australia to study, and what happens once they complete this first course of study. It illuminates in particular how key the ELICOS (English Language Intensive Courses for Overseas Students) sector is to enrolments in Australia’s higher education sector, and to a smaller but still significant extent, its VET (Vocational Education and Training) sector. It also contains projections of what would happen to higher education and VET sectors if ELICOS enrolments were to increase – or to decrease. The insights into international students’ study pathways are especially interesting given the increasing competition Australia is facing in attracting international students. Asian institutions are quickly moving up world university rankings, and as they do, top Australian institutions are being bumped out of the coveted top 200 spots, as are leading institutions in other traditional destination markets.