CRICOS, AQF, and why course accreditation matters for your visa
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Two systems decide whether a course can support your student visa and your later plans: CRICOS registration and the AQF level. Getting both right before you accept an offer saves an expensive mistake.
CRICOS
The Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students lists every course that a provider is legally allowed to deliver to international students, each with its own CRICOS course code. If a course is not on CRICOS, you cannot get a subclass 500 for it, no matter how good the provider is.
Before you accept an offer, search the CRICOS register for the course code on your offer letter and confirm three things: the code is active, the provider is the one making you the offer, and the location matches where you will actually study. Providers can lose registration for a course, and a code that was valid last year may not be valid now.
AQF
The Australian Qualifications Framework sets the level of every qualification in the country.
| AQF level | Qualification | Skilled migration points |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | Diploma | 10 (as a diploma or trade qualification) |
| 6 | Advanced Diploma, Associate Degree | 10 |
| 7 | Bachelor Degree | 15 |
| 8 | Bachelor Honours, Graduate Certificate, Graduate Diploma | 15 |
| 9 | Masters Degree | 15 |
| 10 | Doctoral Degree | 20 |
AQF level matters for your visa in another way too: moving to a course at a lower AQF level than the one your current visa was granted for usually means you need a new student visa, not just a new Confirmation of Enrolment.
The link to skilled migration
- The Australian study requirement (worth 5 points, and a gateway to the 485) must be met with CRICOS-registered courses at diploma level or above, totalling at least 92 weeks, studied in Australia.
- Qualification points follow the AQF level in the table above.
- A STEM masters by research or PhD can add a further 10 points as a specialist education qualification.
- Your skills assessment will check that your qualification sits at the level the occupation expects and is closely related to it.
The "registered but leads nowhere" trap
A course can be fully CRICOS registered and properly accredited and still be a dead end for migration if the field of study does not map to any occupation on a skilled list, or maps only to an occupation with no realistic invitation prospects. Students discover this after graduating, when the assessing authority has no pathway for them.
ELICOS and packaged courses
Standalone English language courses (ELICOS) are CRICOS registered but do not count toward the Australian study requirement. If your offer packages an English course before a degree, only the degree portion counts, so check the combined length still clears 92 weeks of substantive study.
Before you accept an offer, confirm:
- The CRICOS code is active and matches the provider and campus
- The AQF level is what you expect for the qualification name
- The course is long enough, on its own, to meet the 92-week study requirement
- The field of study maps to an occupation you could later have assessed and invited
- Whether the course offers a Commonwealth Supported Place, if you might become eligible for domestic fees later