Student visa data for FYTD February was released yesterday. A grand total of 264,008 visas have been granted, taking the sector back to the 2018-19 levels, where 265,722 visas were granted.
While there were cuts across the board, the post in China may not have gotten the message, or the government is keeping Beijing sweet in a bilateral relationship that it is working hard to maintain and promote. It was indeed good news on the wine tariff front last week.
Outside of Australia, grant rates for China in the Higher Education sector actually grew. According to this data, 42,663 visas were granted compared to 37,257 for the same period last year (up 14.75 per cent) and 31,080 in the pre-COVID year of 18-19 (up 37.3 per cent).
High level
At a high level, when looking at primary grants (83.8 per cent all grants), all sectors experienced a decrease in grants. The table below outlines the grant number by major sub-sector against this time last year (FYTD Feb 22-23) and the pre-COVID year (FYTD 18-19).
| Feb 23-24 | Feb 22-23 | % decrease 23 to 24 | Feb 18-19 | % decrease 19 to 24 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Higher Education | 142,781 | 175,108 | 18.5 | 126,989 | -12.4 |
| ELICOS | 25,598 | 44,938 | 43.0 | 35,197 | 27.3 |
| Non Award | 9,412 | 9,693 | 2.9 | 11,854 | 20.6 |
| Post grad research | 6,106 | 6,462 | 5.5 | 4,620 | -32.2 |
| Schools | 6,506 | 6,315 | -3.0 | 6,392 | -1.8 |
| VET | 38,025 | 86,701 | 56.1 | 55,560 | 31.6 |
Inside v Outside of Australia
Looking again at primary grants for Higher Education, ELICOS, and VET in Australia compared to those outside of Australia, the following is the story.
| Feb 23-24 | Feb 22-23 | % decrease 23 to 24 | Feb 18-19 | % decrease 19 to 24 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Higher Education | 114,416 | 125,496 | 8.8 | 91,188 | -25.5 |
| ELICOS | 21,842 | 40,591 | 46.2 | 19,865 | -10.0 |
| VET | 13,835 | 25,019 | 44.7 | 18,286 | 24.3 |
| Feb 23-24 | Feb 22-23 | % decrease 23 to 24 | Feb 18-19 | % decrease 19 to 24 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Higher Education | 28,365 | 49,612 | 42.8 | 35,801 | 20.8 |
| ELICOS | 3,746 | 4,347 | 13.8 | 5,332 | 29.7 |
| VET | 24,190 | 61,682 | 60.8 | 37,274 | 35.1 |
Countries
The Koala looked somewhat randomly at a number of countries to see their impact. The following is the situation.
| Feb 23-24 | Feb 22-23 | % decrease 23 to 24 | Feb 18-19 | % decrease 19 to 24 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| India - In Australia | 3390 | 9405 | 64.0 | 6791 | 50.1 |
| India - Outside of Australia | 22511 | 32429 | 30.6 | 25905 | 13.1 |
| China - In Australia | 11171 | 15400 | 27.5 | 13518 | 17.4 |
| China - Outside of Australia | 42663 | 37257 | -14.5 | 31080 | -37.3 |
| Singapore - In Australia | 324 | 604 | 46.4 | 334 | 3.0 |
| Singapore - Outside of Australia | 1354 | 1507 | 10.2 | 1506 | 10.1 |
| UK - In Australia | 111 | 244 | 54.5 | 212 | 47.6 |
| UK - Outside of Australia | 160 | 153 | -4.6 | 186 | 14.0 |
The Koala and its team of data scientists expect to dig further into the data over the coming days and report further.
