Australian Study Requirement: RPL, Overlapping Courses and Time Offshore

The Australian study requirement is worth 5 points on the skilled visa points test, and it is also a requirement for the 485 visa. The basic rule looks simple, but the Department’s instructions contain detailed rules about credit, overlapping courses and time spent overseas. This guide builds on our page on the 2-year study requirement.

The five elements

Under regulation 1.15F, you meet the requirement if you completed one or more degrees, diplomas or trade qualifications from an Australian educational institution through courses that:

1. were registered on CRICOS;
2. were completed in a total of at least 16 calendar months;
3. involved a total of at least 2 academic years of study, which means at least 92 weeks of registered course duration;
4. were taught entirely in English; and
5. you studied while in Australia on a visa that allowed you to study.

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Which qualifications count

A degree means a bachelor degree or higher. A diploma includes associate and advanced diplomas. A Certificate II, a non-trade Certificate III or IV, or a Graduate Certificate cannot meet the requirement on its own. Units from those certificates can count if they were credited into a degree or diploma you completed. An entry course, such as an English course you needed to start a degree, does not count.

Nested or packaged courses can be combined, for example a Certificate III and Certificate IV in Commercial Cookery followed by a Diploma of Hospitality Management, or a Bachelor of Accounting followed by a Master of Accounting.

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Credit and recognised prior learning

Situation	How it is treated
Credit for earlier Australian study that met the rules	The credited units count towards the 92 weeks, and the time you actually spent studying them counts towards the 16 months.
Credit for study done overseas	Can help with the 2 academic years limb, but cannot be used if it reduces your actual study below 16 months or your registered courses below 2 years.
Changing courses	Earlier study only counts if it was credited into the qualification you completed.
Changing institutions	Study with both providers counts if it was credited into the completed qualification.

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Overlapping or concurrent courses

If you studied two courses at the same time, the overlap is counted only once. The Department’s example is a Master of Professional Accounting and an MBA studied together, each with 12 units and sharing 8 core units. The shared units are counted once, giving 16 units in total, not 24.

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Registered duration, not time taken

The 92 weeks are measured using the course’s registered full-time duration on CRICOS. If a course is registered for 78 weeks and you take 2 years to finish it, it still counts as 78 weeks. Failed units are only counted once. You also cannot meet the requirement in less than 16 calendar months, even if you study overload or in summer terms.

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Time overseas and online study

• You only need to be in Australia while you are studying. Travelling home during breaks between terms is fine.
• Time spent overseas while your course was in session is not counted, including online study from overseas.
• Study at an overseas campus of an Australian institution, or on an overseas exchange, does not count. You can still meet the requirement if you completed at least 2 academic years over at least 16 months while in Australia.
• Distance education does not count.

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Your visa must have allowed you to study

Under regulation 2.27D, study only counts if you held a visa that allowed it and you complied with its conditions. For example, if a visa limited you to 4 months of study, only 4 months can count. The same principle applies to work, which we cover in work in breach of visa conditions earns no points.

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When is the course completed?

A course is completed when your final results are released, not when you graduate. Submitting a thesis is not enough on its own: you need confirmation that no further changes are required.

For the extra 5 points for studying and living in regional Australia, see our guide to regional study points.

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What you should do now

• Check your courses on CRICOS: confirm each course was CRICOS registered and note its registered duration in weeks.
• Count only what qualifies: add up the registered weeks of completed courses, counting overlapping units once and leaving out entry courses.
• Check your dates: make sure your study ran over at least 16 calendar months and that you were in Australia, on a visa that allowed study, while your courses were in session.
• Get your completion letter: ask your institution for a letter showing the date your final results were released.