Australian Government Australian Skills Quality Authority

What information do you need to report?

As a CRICOS provider, you are required to report information on the areas detailed in the following pages.

Student information

The following student information must be provided (via PRISMS) to the Australian Government for all accepted students:

  • the student’s full name
  • the student’s gender
  • the student’s date of birth
  • the student’s country of birth
  • the student’s nationality
  • if the student is under 18 years old
  • the current residential address, mobile phone number (if any) and email address (if any) of a person other than the provider who has the legal authority to act on behalf of the student
  • the relationship of the person to the student (i.e. a parent or guardian)
  • the unique identifier of the student’s course and its location (the CRICOS course code)
  • the agreed starting date of the course;
  • the date when the student is expected to complete the course
  • the dollar amount of tuition fees that the provider received from the student for the course, before confirming the student’s enrolment using PRISMS
  • if the provider is not a public provider—the start and end dates of the period to which the amount mentioned in paragraph (i) relates
  • the dollar amount of non-tuition fees that the provider received for the student for the course, before confirming the student’s enrolment using PRISMS
  • the total dollar amount of tuition fees that the student is required to pay to the provider to undertake the full course, in line with the written agreement entered into with the student
  • if the student has undertaken a test to determine their level of comprehension of English, the name of the test and the score the student received (see: 476.213(a) or 485.212(a) of Schedule 2 of the Migration Regulations 1994)
  • if the student was in Australia when he or she became an accepted student, the number of the student’s passport
  • if the student holds an Australian visa, the number of the visa.

Why is this information important?

Making sure an overseas student is who they say they are is crucial to the success of the visa system. This information is used to maintain integrity in the program.

It is also important that the Department of Home Affairs and the Department of Education, Skills and Employment know:

  • where a student is
  • when and where they are studying
  • if the student ceases their studies.

Overseas students can be vulnerable to exploitation and trafficking. Education providers play a crucial role in supporting and protecting overseas students while they are in Australia. ASQA’s recent Strategic Review, Protecting the quality of international VET and English language education, found that CRICOS providers are vital in regulating and protecting overseas students during their stay in Australia.

Accepted students

A CRICOS provider must provide information to the Australian Government about any overseas student who becomes an accepted student. An accepted student is a student that a CRICOS provider has accepted onto their course role, and who has, or will require, a student visa to study in the course. Details of the student’s name, starting date and the expected duration of the course for which the student is enrolled must be provided.

Why is this information important?

It is a condition of an overseas student visa, and the criteria applicable to the grant of a visa that the student holds enrolment in a registered course of study. The Department of Home Affairs requires information about this enrolment for the assessment of student visa applications and the monitoring of visa condition 8202.

Non-commencement by students

CRICOS providers must inform the Department of Education, Skills and Employment (DESE) if a student does not commence their course. Providers are also obliged to give DESE the following information about the student:

  • the current residential address
  • mobile phone number (if any)
  • email address (if any)
  • all the information listed under student information, if not already provided.

Why is this information important?

All overseas students are subject to condition 8202(2)(a) as part of their student visa approval. This condition states that an overseas student must be enrolled in a full-time registered course. When a CRICOS provider reports a student for non-commencement of studies and the student does not hold any other enrolment, that student will be liable for cancellation of their visa.

If the student holds another enrolment, this information still may indicate that the primary purpose for the overseas student holding a student visa may not be for study. That student may then be liable for the Department of Home Affairs cancelling their visa as a non-genuine student. CRICOS providers form a vital component in maintaining the integrity of the student visa framework.

Termination of studies

As for non-commencement, a CRICOS provider must notify DESE each time an accepted student terminates their enrolment before the completion of their course. The information that the CRICOS provider must supply when this occurs is the:

  • the reason for termination
  • the date the student’s studies are terminated (whether or not the termination takes effect on that day)
  • the last date of the student’s studies
  • the student’s residential address, phone number and email address.

Changes of duration and identity

When a change to an overseas student’s identity or the duration of a course occurs, CRICOS providers must inform DESE of this via PRISMS. This is important to ensure that the visa granted to the student, for a specific course with a specific duration, remains valid and the duration of that visa remains appropriate.

Where several CoEs are issued for the same course, CRICOS providers must create a Student Course Variation (SCV) in PRISMS. This SCV must be appropriate to the circumstances that have occurred to lengthen the course, such as ‘implementing an intervention strategy’ or ‘unsatisfactory course progress’.

Instances where students have completed their studies early also require a SCV to be generated. In this situation it is important to issue an SCV that reflect that the student is no longer studying that course.

Please note: Failure to provide an SCV is a breach of Section 19(1)(e) of the ESOS Act.

It is also important to remember that a CoE cannot be issued for a period longer than the registered length of the course. This is specified under Standard 8.2 of the National Code of Practice for Providers of Education and Training to Overseas Students 2018 (the National Code 2018).

When a report about duration changes occurs, CRICOS providers must also report:

  • the date the change takes effect
  • the student’s residential address, phone number and email address.

The following are circumstances where an extension to a registered course can occur if an overseas student is unable to complete the course in the registered duration.

  1. There are compassionate or compelling circumstances, as assessed by the registered provider on the basis of demonstrable evidence.
  2. The CRICOS provider has implemented, or is in the process of implementing, an intervention strategy for the overseas student because the overseas student is at risk of not meeting course progress requirements
  3. An approved deferral or suspension of the overseas student’s enrolment has occurred under Standard 9 of the National Code 2018.

If a CRICOS provider extends the duration of an overseas student’s enrolment, they must advise the overseas student to contact the Department of Home Affairs and to seek advice on the potential impacts of the extension on their visa, including the need to obtain a new visa.

Why is this information important?

Any changes to the length of a CoE indicates an occurrence with a student that a CRICOS provider is obliged to report to Department of Education, Skills and Employment. There are SCVs available in PRISMS for each of these circumstances.

SCV reporting is central to the integrity of the overseas student visa framework. If a CRICOS provider shortens or lengthens a CoE without an SCV, then this undermines the Department of Education, Skills and Employment and the Department of Home Affairs ability to monitor and address issues within the framework.

Failure to create an SCV may allow an overseas student to circumvent their responsibilities under the Migration Act 1958. Therefore, this reporting must occur to ensure appropriate regulation of the overseas student market.

Other circumstances

The following instances are the other circumstances where CRICOS providers are obligated to provide information to the Australian Government. In each of these instances, the CRICOS provider is also required to supply the information detailed under Student information, if they have not already done so.

Providers must also send the overseas student’s current residential address, mobile phone number (if any) and email address (if any), if not previously provided.

Education agent information

If an overseas student becomes an accepted student via an education agent, the CRICOS provider must provide the following information:

  1. agent’s name
  2. address of the agent’s principal place of business
  3. if the agent is a body corporate, the address of the body corporate’s registered office
  4. agent’s postal address (if different from the address mentioned in paragraph (b) or (c))
  5. agent’s phone number, email address and website address (if any)
  6. agent’s ABN or ACN (if any)
  7. agent’s trading name or names (if any)
  8. if the agent is a body corporate, the names of the body corporate’s directors
  9. if the agent is a registered migration agent, the agent’s Migration Agents Registration Number
  10. the following information about each of the agent’s employees (if any) who are involved in the agent facilitating the enrolment:
    1. employee’s name
    2. employee’s email address
    3. if the employee is a registered migration agent, the employee’s Migration Agents Registration Number.

Already accepted students

Sometimes a student already accepted for a course by a provider may seek to enrol in a different course with the same provider. In this case, the CRICOS provider must notify the Australian Government of the information requirements specified in the following:

Deferrals and suspensions

When a CRICOS provider gives an overseas student a deferral, then the following information must be provided:

  1. date the deferment or suspension starts
  2. expected duration of the deferment or suspension
  3. student’s residential address, phone number and email address
  4. change to the end date of the course (if applicable)

If the CRICOS provider becomes aware that any of the above information changes, they must provide the updated information.

Course does not start when expected

If a course does not start when expected, and it was not due to an overseas student failing to commence, an education provider must notify the Australian Government and supply the affected student’s residential address, phone number and email address. It should be noted that if the course did not start on the agreed starting day because the provider failed to start delivering the course on that day (and the overseas student had not previously withdrawn) then the provider has defaulted in respect of the student and the course at the location. If this is the case, that provider has further obligations to the student, and reporting obligations in PRISMS. These obligations are detailed further in ASQA’s Guide to provider default obligations under the ESOS Act, which can be found at https://www.asqa.gov.au/resources/guides/guide-provider-default-obligations-under-esos-act.

Change to a course

CRICOS providers must report any changes to a student’s course. This includes:

  • date the change occurred
  • whether the change will take effect on that day or not
  • student’s residential address, phone number and email address.

Providers must also notify any changes to the location of a course, including the date the change takes effect, and the student’s residential address, phone number and email address.

Tuition fees

After each calendar month ends, CRICOS providers must give information to the Australian Government about course tuition fees received during that month. This information must state:

  • amount of each payment made
  • day the payment was made
  • period to which the payment relates.
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