End of Year Summary of International Student
Enrolment Data1 – Australia – 2015 	
	
In 2015, there were 645,185 enrolments by full-fee paying international students in Australia on a student visa. This represents a 9.8% increase on 2014 and compares with the average annual growth rate for enrolments of 6.1% per year over the preceding ten years.
There were 377,973 commencements in 2015, representing a 7.6% increase on 2014 figures. This compares with the average annual growth rate for commencements of 7.4% per year over the preceding ten years.
The higher education sector had the largest share of enrolments at 42.2%. Enrolments and commencements in the sector increased by 9.2% and 7.7% respectively. China and India accounted for 35.7% and 13.0% respectively of enrolments by students in higher education. Postgraduate research commencements decreased by 3.5%, while other postgraduate commencements increased by 3.5% on 2014 figures. Bachelor degree commencements grew by 16.4% in 2015.
The VET sector accounted for 26.3% of total enrolments and 29.1% of total commencements. Enrolments and commencements in the sector increased 13.7% and 11.1% respectively in 2015. India had the largest share of total enrolments (17.0%) and total commencements (15.5%). The Republic of Korea was the next largest source country for enrolments with 8.3%, followed by China (7.9%) and Thailand (7.7%). 
The English Language Intensive Courses for Overseas Students (ELICOS) sector accounted for 22.5% of total enrolments and 29.6% of total commencements in 2015. Enrolments and commencements grew by 6.5% and 4.8% respectively in the sector. China was the largest ELICOS market in the period with a 26.5% share of enrolments and 25.8% of commencements. Brazil was the next largest nationality for ELICOS enrolments with 9.1%, followed by Thailand (8.0%) and Colombia (6.7%). 
In 2015, the schools sector accounted for 3.2% of total enrolments and 2.9% of total commencements. Enrolments and commencements in the sector grew by 11.8% and 14.8% respectively. Asia contributed 84.2% of enrolments and 78.4% of commencements. By nationality, China contributed the largest share of enrolments in schools at 50.0% followed by Vietnam and the Republic of Korea at 8.9% and 6.2% respectively.	
Enrolments and commencements in non-award courses (such as exchange and foundation programs) increased by 9.8% and 3.5% respectively. China (28.9%), the USA (14.9%) and Brazil (6.7%) accounted for more enrolments in non-award courses than any other nationality. Commencements from China and the USA increased by 26.6% and 3.9% respectively.
	Enrolments	Commencements	
Sector	
 2014	
2015	Growth on
 2014	
 2014	
2015	Growth on
2014	
Higher Education	249,074
272,	272,095
	9.2%	107,894	116,165	7.7%	
VET	149,316	169,700	13.7%	99,065	110,061	11.1%	
ELICOS	136,390	145,298	6.5%	106,598	111,707	4.8%	
Schools2	18,422	20,596	11.8%	9,644	11,075	14.8%	
Non-award 	34,163	37,496	9.8%	27,995	28,965	3.5%	
Total in Australia	587,365	645,185	9.8%
	351,196	377,973	7.6%
	
The Top 5 nationalities contributed 51.0% of Australia’s enrolments in all sectors
	Double-digit increases in markets with over 13,500 enrolments (outside top 5)	
Nationality	
2014

 2014	
2015	Growth on
2014	Share of all
nationalities		
					Nationality	
2015	Growth on
2014	Rank	
China	150,893	170,212	12.8%	26.4%					
India	62,733	72,504	15.6%	11.2%					
Vietnam	29,923	29,575	-1.2%	4.6%	Brazil	24,672	11.1%	6	
Republic of Korea	27,875	28,725	3.0%	4.5%	Pakistan	16,091	10.8%	10	
Thailand	25,538	27,965	9.5%	4.3%	Hong Kong	15,808	10.6%	11	
Other nationalities	290,403	316,204	8.9%	49.0%	Colombia	14,095	10.6%	12	
All nationalities
	587,365	645,185	9.8%	100.0%	Taiwan	13,662	34.4%	13	
					
1	The Department of Education and Training data on enrolments and commencements (including the data in this update) relate only to international students in Australia on a student visa.
2	Commencements in schools for the current reference period are not strictly comparable to earlier years due to recent changes to secondary school level courses at a single large provider.