As you may know, recent changes brought in by the Australian Department of Education and Training means that all English language courses provided to overseas students must comply with the ELICOS Standards 2018. The ELICOS Standards 2018 have replaced the ELICOS Standards 2011.
What’s the biggest change?
The biggest change under these new standards is the definition of what an ELICOS course is. Now, any course where the outcome is solely or predominantly English language, is considered an ELICOS course, and providers of these courses will need to adhere to the ELICOS standards when delivering these courses.
In addition, an ELICOS course cannot be a VET course, and
- Must be solely or predominantly of English-language instruction, and
- Provided, or intended to be provided, to an overseas student as defined in the Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000 (ESOS Act).
Therefore, courses such as the Certificate I – IV in EAL (English as an Additional Language) that were previously often delivered to overseas students, are no longer able to be provided to overseas students and are no longer considered an ELICOS course.
From the 1st March, providers are no longer able to enrol new overseas students into a VET course. If you are currently delivering a VET course to overseas students, you will be able to teach out students who enrolled on or before 28 February 2018, however new overseas students will need to enrol into an ELICOS (non-VET) course.
I’m an ELICOS provider that has previously delivered VET English language course to overseas students. What do I do next?
If you are an ELICOS provider that has previously been delivering a VET English language course to overseas students, you will need to make arrangements to deliver ELICOS Curriculum to new students. This involves buying or accessing ELICOS curriculum and applying to ASQA to add the course to your CRICOS scope.
We are currently developing a range of new ELICOS courses that providers can buy a license to use. Choose from the following ELICOS curriculums:
• General English (6 levels)
• English for Academic Purposes (2 levels)
• IELTS Preparation (2 levels)
If you need some assistance get in touch with us non 1300 676 870 today.