Research
Snapshot
                 September 2019
Allocation of Enrolments to the Various Education Sectors - Explanatory Note

The international student data extracted from the Provider Registration and International Student Management System (PRISMS) cover enrolments by international students who study in Australia on a student visa.  An explanation of how the department identifies each enrolment and commencement is given in the Explanatory snapshot title on Enrolments, commencements and student numbers. 
As the education market develops, institutions respond by diversifying their source markets and course offerings. Many providers offer courses in different sectors. For example, it is possible to study senior secondary courses at universities, and degree courses at Vocational Education and Training (VET) providers.  This means that levels of study are not necessarily aligned with types of education providers.  For data purposes, the department categorises all course enrolments into sectors irrespective of provider type.  For example, if a TAFE provides School Certificate courses, these enrolments will be counted as School sector enrolments.  Similarly, if a university provides Associate Diploma courses, these will be counted as VET sector enrolments.
The department's classification of formal courses is largely based on the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF). Using the AQF ‘levels of study’, the department categorises courses into three main education sectors - Higher Education (HE), Vocational Education and Training (VET), Schools, English Language Intensive Courses for Overseas Students (ELICOS) and Non-award.  

The three main education sectors are categorised as follows:
Higher education  
Study at bachelor degree level or higher.
Vocational Education and Training education
Any AQF qualification, outside the schooling system, that is lower than a bachelor level qualification. 
Schools 
Any school level qualification recognised by State and Territory departments responsible for schooling. Other school level courses such as adult matriculation and foundation studies that are not recognised in the AQF are allocated to the Non-award sector (see below). 
Two additional sectors are based on courses that do not lead to a recognised AQF award and are categorised as follows:
English language
International students often undertake English-language study to improve their English skills while enrolled in other sectors. A separate ELICOS segment of the education industry has developed, and ELICOS courses are often identified and marketed independently. Consequently, ELICOS and other English-language courses are placed in the English-language sector, irrespective of the AQF course level and type of institution providing the course.
Non-award 
Any remaining courses that do not confer a qualification under the AQF are categorised as Non-award. This includes foundation, other enabling courses and study exchange programs recorded in PRISMS. Generally this occurs with exchange students in Australia or when students enrol in enabling courses to allow them to subsequently undertake a formal AQF qualification. As foundation studies are not recognised in the AQF, enrolments in these courses are included in the Non-award sector as well.