English language and vocational education provider Lonsdale Institute Pty Ltd ceased operating yesterday according to the Tuition Protection Service (TPS) and is working to arrange for students to be transferred to another provider.
The TPS is in contact with Lonsdale Institute to “inform them of their obligations to students and to determine how we can support Lonsdale Institute and their students during this difficult time”.
Lonsdale Institute was established in 2007 and operated from four locations, two in Melbourne and two in Sydney. It had a total CRICOS capacity of 3588 and 27 CRICOS registered courses.
The Institute’s website is no longer operational.
The Koala spoke to Ian Aird, CEO of English Australia, who said of the closure, “It’s very sad to hear of the closure of Lonsdale Institute. Once again, we see a good college just unable to survive financially in this environment. And sadly, this also means dozens more dedicated professionals out of work. And Lonsdale had so many fantastic people in its team, people dedicated to ensuring great quality learning experiences and outcomes for their students.”
“But, when you combine record high visa application refusals with the world’s most expensive student visa application fee by a country mile, a visa application fee completely disproportionate to the cost of an ELICOS course, it’s very tough. We have the lowest ELICOS student numbers since 2013, the lowest ELICOS commencements since 2006, the lowest ELICOS Only student visa grants on record. It’s all led to the lowest ELICOS Only student visa applications on record,” he said.
