Monthly Summary of International Student Enrolment Data1 Australia YTD March 2011

As at year-to-date (YTD) March 2011, there were 389,601 enrolments by full-fee international students in Australia on a student visa. This represents an 8.7% decline on the same period in 2010 and compares with the average YTD March growth rate for enrolments since 2002 of 8.5% per year. There were 132,245 commencements in YTD March 2011, representing a 3.7% decline over the same period in 2010 and contrasts with an average YTD March growth rate for commencements since 2002 of 6.7% per year. In March 2011, the Higher Education sector ranked first by volume of enrolments. The sector recorded growth of 3.6% in enrolments. By enrolments volume, the two largest markets were China (39.4%) and Malaysia (8.0%). Management and Commerce was the most popular broad field of education with 49.7% of enrolments. The next most popular fields were Engineering and Related Technologies and Health with 9.0% and 8.0% of enrolments respectively. In YTD March 2011, enrolments and commencements at the under-graduate level of study were up by 7.6% and 10.5% respectively on YTD March 2010. Post-graduate research enrolments and commencements were up by 14.6% and 7.4% respectively over the same period. The Vocational Education and Training sector (VET) ranked second by volume of enrolments and by volume of commencements. Enrolments and commencements at YTD March 2011 fell by 21.4% and 3.9% respectively on the same period in 2010. India had the largest share of total enrolments (33.4%) and of total commencements (26.0%). China was the next largest source country by enrolments with 10.9%, followed by Nepal and Thailand with 6.3% each. Management and Commerce was the largest broad field of education in VET with 45.1% of enrolments and 51.1% of commencements. Enrolments and commencements in this field grew 7.9% and 36.6% respectively. Food, Hospitality and Personal Services ranked second however, enrolments in this field declined by 48.9% and commencements by 47.4%. Society and Culture was the third largest broad field of education and recorded a 31.4% decline in enrolments and a 10.2% decline in commencements. The English Language Intensive Courses for Overseas Students (ELICOS) sector ranked third by volume of enrolments by volume of commencements. Enrolments declined by 21.0% and commencements declined by 17.7% compared with the same period in 2010. China was the largest ELICOS market with a 30.2% share of enrolments and 28.1% of commencements. Chinese enrolments and commencements declined, by 25.7% and 24.0% respectively. The Schools sector ranked fifth by volume of enrolments and of commencements. Enrolments declined by 12.8% and commencements by 15.6% in the reporting period. Asia contributed 89.0% of enrolments and 81.5% of commencements. China, the largest market in the sector, accounted for 38.6% of commencements however, commencements from China declined by 18.8%. Enrolments and commencements in courses such as exchange and foundation programs, included in the Other sector declined by 6.8% each. The largest markets by volume of enrolments were China (28.0%) and the USA (21.4%). The YTD March 2011 enrolments from both markets declined by 9.8% and 0.3% respectively.

Enrolments, Year-to-date
Sector Higher Education VET ELICOS Schools 2 Other Total in Australia YTD Mar. 2010 197,827 134,005 57,378 19,028 18,692 426,930 YTD Mar. 2011 204,950 105,326 45,306 16,597 17,422 389,601 Growth on YTD Mar. 10 3.6% -21.4% -21.0% -12.8% -6.8% -8.7%

Commencements, Year-to-date
YTD Mar. 2010 56,814 35,303 27,425 5,689 12,160 137,391 YTD Mar. 2011 59,632 33,913 22,562 4,800 11,338 132,245 Growth on YTD Mar. 10 5.0% -3.9% -17.7% -15.6% -6.8% -3.7%

The Top 5 nationalities contributed 58.6% of Australias enrolments in all sectors

YTD Mar. 2010 119,939 70,541 23,061 19,855 17,764 175,770 426,930 YTD Mar. 2011 118,034 49,062 20,366 19,348 17,651 165,140 389,601 Growth on YTD Mar. 10 -1.6% -30.4% -11.7% -2.6% -0.6% -6.0% -8.7%

Double-digit increases & decreases in markets

Share of all with over 4,500 enrolments (outside top 5) Nationality nationalities Growth on China 30.3% YTD YTD Mar. Mar. 2011 Rank 2010 India 12.6% Nationality Republic of Korea 5.2% Thailand 12,976 -13.0% 6 Malaysia 5.0% Nepal 12,284 -19.0% 8 Vietnam 4.5% Japan 6,510 -11.9% 13 Other nationalities 42.4% Pakistan 5,892 14.1% 14 All nationalities 100.0% Sri Lanka 4,951 -17.0% 16 Colombia 4,825 -13.9% 17 More information is available at: http://aei.dest.gov.au/AEI/MIP/Statistics/Default.htm
1 2

AEI data on enrolments and commencements (including the data in this update) relate only to international students in Australia on a student visa. Other includes Foundation, Bridging and Enabling courses plus other courses that do not lead to a qualification under the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF).