The Department of Home Affairs has completed its September 2026 update of Evidence Levels for countries and education providers, with the revised settings applying to Student visa applications lodged from 30 September 2026.
The update, announced through PRISMS a short time ago, is based on student visa outcome data collected over the 12 months from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026.
Departmental systems have now been updated, including the Document Checklist Tool used by applicants to determine the evidence required for their visa application.
Evidence Levels sit within Australia’s Simplified Student Visa Framework and are assigned to both individual education providers and countries.
The system uses a weighted calculation based on student visa outcomes. The Department considers visa cancellations, refusals for fraud, other visa refusals, students becoming unlawful and subsequent protection visa applications.
Fraud-related refusals carry the greatest weighting, followed by visa cancellations, unlawful non-citizen outcomes, other refusals and subsequent protection visa applications.
The resulting index places countries and providers into one of three Evidence Levels: EL1; EL 2; and EL 3.
For students, the practical significance is that the Evidence Level can affect the documentary evidence required as part of the Student visa application process.
The September update is therefore more than an administrative refresh. It provides another indication of how student visa outcomes across the previous 12 months are being reflected in the risk settings applied to future applicants.
There is also an important distinction between the country and provider components of the framework. The Department attributes student visa outcomes to the education provider attached to the Confirmation of Enrolment for the principal course at the time the visa application was decided. If a student subsequently transfers provider without obtaining a new Student visa, the visa remains linked to the original provider for evidence-level purposes.
For smaller providers and countries, the Department applies default Evidence Levels where there is insufficient data. Small education providers are generally assigned a default Level 2, while small countries are assigned Level 3 unless they meet specified income criteria that allow a Level 1 setting.
The timing of the update is significant for the sector because it provides a fresh set of settings based on a full year of visa outcomes, rather than simply reflecting the latest month’s movements.
For providers and agents, the immediate question is not simply which countries or institutions have moved between levels, but what those movements mean for applicants sitting somewhere between enquiry, application and visa submission.
It is also another reminder that the Australian student visa system is increasingly data driven. Provider behaviour, applicant behaviour and visa outcomes are feeding into settings that can ultimately change the evidence burden faced by the next group of students.
That makes the September update worth watching beyond today’s announcement. The numbers generated over the 2025–26 financial year are now influencing the evidence requirements facing students applying from 30 September 2026 onwards.
Phil Honeywood, CEO of the International Education Association of Australia (IEAA), says, “IEAA advocated for a complete moratorium on all provider EL level changes for this round. Our rationale was that the SSVF system is broken and, until such time as the Government does a comprehensive review, education providers should not be punished.
“As it stands, it appears that there has been some flexibility in tolerance factors this time,” he said.
The Department’s evidence-level methodology and current settings are available through its Evidence Levels for Education Program page.
So, what’s the movement?
Evidence level lists are not published. The Koala will be keeping its ear to the ground over the next day or two. Invariably, agents and stakeholders will be calculating these lists by testing the document tool. More as it comes in.
The PRISMS announcement can be seen here.
