Applying for tertiary education as an international student

The only international students that can apply for courses through VTAC are international Australian Year 12 students.

If you are an international student who is not completing an Australian Year 12, or who doesn’t meet the citizenship and residency requirements for applying through VTAC, you must apply directly to the institutions.

If you wish to nominate an education agent, you can do so from 3 September.

This page provides an overview of the course research and application process for international Australian Year 12 students by leading you to key information, including:

VTAC’s role

VTAC receives, collates and forwards applications to institutions. This includes requests for special consideration (SEAS), scholarship applications and other supporting documentation that may be required by institutions.

VTAC also has the role of calculating the Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank (ATAR).

After selection decisions are made by the institutions, VTAC sends messages of offer to successful applicants.

Research courses

Find courses you want to apply for in CourseSearch.

Check the courses you are interested in have International Fee Places (IFP) available. You can identify these because they have a course code that ends in a 3 followed by 'IFP' in brackets, like this: 0987690743 (IFP).

Research the course requirements (including prerequisites) for each course that interests you. These are listed in CourseSearch by applicant category.

Find out about the institutions you are considering applying to.

See the Year 12 Guide for detailed information on course research, including questions to ask and visiting open days.

Am I eligible to apply through VTAC?

To apply through VTAC, you must meet citizenship and residency requirements.

The types of courses you can apply for depends upon the qualification —VCE, IB or VCE VM—you complete. Check minimum tertiary entrance requirements for which courses you are eligible for.

International student decision tree: you apply through VTAC if you are studying an Australian year 12 qualification or the I.B. in Australia on New Zealand. Most other applicants will need to apply to the institution directly

Apply for courses through VTAC

Create a VTAC profile. Most applicants will need to get a Unique Student Identifier (USI) before they sign up. Learn about the process of applying for courses and create a course application by logging into your VTAC account.You can apply for up to eight courses in order of preference. Make sure you meet the course requirements (including prerequisites) for each.

Consider equity schemes and scholarships

If you are on a Temporary, Bridging or Safe Haven Enterprise visa you should consider putting in a special consideration application via VTAC’s equity schemes and scholarships application.  

Other international Australian Year 12 applicants are not eligible for equity schemes through VTAC and are encouraged to contact institutions directly to see if other special consideration programs are available.

There are several scholarships some international Australian Year 12 students can apply for though the VTAC equity schemes and scholarships application. See apply for scholarships.

Changed your mind?

If you change your mind about a course or find a new one, you can use change of preference at certain times of the year to change your application. This includes before and after your results are released.

Get your results

You will receive your ATAR in December. Learn about the ATAR and how to access it.

Course offers

Find out about offers and how to enrol or defer.