Overseas students and visitors
Instruction to staff for enrolling overseas students or hosting visits by overseas school students and adult educational groups.
- Policy statement
- The NSW Department of Education welcomes overseas students and visitors into our schools for short term visits or for longer periods to study.
- Specific requirements relate to:
- overseas students enrolling in or visiting schools for short-term programs
- international students on study abroad programs
- international secondary student exchanges
- temporary residents program
- study tours
- sister-school relationships that involve hosting overseas groups and international travel by teachers and/or students
- international volunteers, international interns, international teachers on practicum and language assistant teachers from overseas.
- Audience and applicability
- All NSW government schools.
- Context
- Schools enrolling overseas students are subject to the legislative requirements of the Education Services for Overseas Students (ESOS) Act and the National Code 2018.
- The National Guidelines for the Operation of International Secondary Student Exchange Programs in Australia (2018) (PDF 411KB) apply to all registered student exchange organisations operating in NSW.
- Responsibilities and delegations
- Principals:
- enrol students from overseas in accordance with the appropriate departmental policy and DE International guidelines
- enrol temporary residents in accordance with departmental policy and Temporary Residents Program procedures
- decide to accept or decline a request to host a study tour in accordance with DE International guidelines on study tours (PDF 98.16KB)
- consult the list of registered secondary student exchange organisations to ensure the school only deals with organisations registered to operate in NSW
- establish and monitor sister-school arrangements consistent with the implementation document
- declare any personal or public disclosures related to any aspect of the activity such as gifts or donations using departmental procedures
- check that requests to host visitors under 1.2. comply with the requirements as outlined in the Overseas student and group visits: Guidelines for schools (PDF 98.16KB).
- DE International:
- Conducts programs and provides advice in relation to:
- International student program – international students holding a student visa, subclass 500P
- Study abroad program – international students on short-term enrolments for one term to one year, holding a student visa 500P
- Temporary residents program – holders of other visas including tourist or visitor visas
- Study tours – groups of students and/or adults visiting schools
- Secondary student exchange – students holding 500 student visas attend for minimum of one school term to maximum of one year.
- Reports annually on reciprocity associated with the operation of international secondary student exchange programs.
- Monitors, evaluates and reports on the enrolment of international students and temporary residents in NSW government schools and study tours in relation to this policy.
- Monitoring and review
- The Executive Director, School Operations and Strategic Partnerships is responsible for monitoring the implementation of this policy and reviewing its effectiveness every three years.
- Contact
