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ELICOS is an acronym for English Language Intensive
Courses for Overseas Students.
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There are around 180 fully accredited ELICOS (English
Language Intensive Courses for Overseas Students) colleges in Australia.
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Full time accredited English courses in Australia
can cost anywhere from $AUD200 to $AUD580 a week. Most English colleges
also charge an enrolment and accommodation placement fee and you
might also have to pay for study materials, Internet use, library
access and other services.
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It is common practice for English colleges to offer
discounted fees. For example, a college may offer special discounts
according to a student's nationality. Discounts may also be offered
based on the length of enrolment and type of visa (student or visitor/working
holiday) a student has.
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Every accredited English college in Australia
is required to have a cancelation and refund policy which
is usually found on the back of the enrolment form. Prepaid fees
will not normally be refunded less than 28 days before the
course begins unless your visa is refused or the college can't offer
the English course you want to study. If you cancel a course more
than 28 days before it starts, you can usually get a large proportion
of your money back.
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If you study in Australia on a student visa, you
are allowed to work up to 20 hours a week. However, it isn't always
easy to find a job and wages can be quite low. For example, the
average wage for a foreign student working in a restaurant is $8
- $10 (Australian dollars).
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Without counting students enrolled in further
study programs, the number of students studying English at a particualr
college in Australia can range from 20 to 700 students.
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The most common full time courses offered by ELICOS
colleges are:
General English
General English courses aim to develop speaking,
listening, reading and writing skills across a 'broad' range of
language areas and themes. The courses are suitable for students
who don't wish to improve their English in any specific context
or students who need a certain level of General English inorder
to gain entry into another course (see below). Most colleges offer
at least a few levels of General English. How many levels there
are will depend on the number of enrolments.
English for Academic
Purposes (EAP)
EAP focuses on developing academic skills, for
example, essay writing and research, and is designed for students
who intend doing further study in Australia. EAP programs are normally
only available to students who have at least an intermediate level
of English. Although a lot of private colleges run these programs,
they are more commonly offered by University ELICOS centres and
TAFEs.
Cambridge First Certificate
of English (FCE) and Certificate of Advanced English (CAE)
FCE and CAE preparation courses usually run for
12 weeks to coincide with the exams which are held 2 or 3 times
a year. For FCE, students should have an upper intermediate level
of English before they enrol and lower advanced for CAE. Both FCE
and CAE are widely recognized in Europe and therefore courses are
most popular with European students, particularly Swiss and Czechs.
Not all colleges offer FCE and CAE and usually only the private
ones. For more details on these exams, have a look at the Cambridge
website.
IELTS Preparation
Unlike FCE and CAE, there is no pass or fail in
IELTS (Intensive English Language Testing System). Instead, the
test measures the proficiency of students in each of the 4 main
skills - speaking, listening, reading and writing and a score of
between 1 and 9 is awarded. There are 2 modules, general and academic.
Only the reading and writing sections differ. The academic module
is mostly taken by students who need an IELTS score to enter university
or TAFE in Australia. The score needed will depend on the course
and the institution. Very few colleges run full time IELTS preparation
courses but many offer it as an elective in conjunction with an
EAP or General English program.
High School Preparation
High School Preparation prepares students for entry
into the Australian secondary school system and is only available
at a limited number of ELICOS colleges.
Foundation Studies
This course is mostly used as an alternative pathway
into selected universities by students who don't have the required
level of achievement at secondary school. The course usually runs
for a full year and is only offered by a limited number of private
and university ELICOS centres. Entry level is normally IELTS 5.5.
English For Special Purposes In addition to the more mainstream
courses, there are dozens of other.
English for Special Purposes
(ESP) courses you can study throughout Australia
including English for Surfing, Golf, Flying and even Diving. A lot
of these courses differ more in name than content and you will often
just be learning General English with some 'special' lessons included.
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For General English and EAP, the majority
of private colleges and some TAFEs allow student intakes every Monday
of the year. For exam preparation courses, e.g. Cambridge FCE and
IELTS, intakes are usually set according to fixed dates which are
less flexible. University English centres usually stipulate start
dates every 4 or 5 weeks for all courses.
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Classes at most colleges begin in the morning
but because of high enrolments and a lack of space, some classes
may also begin in the afternoon. You won't normally have a choice
about when your lessons begin. If you are concerned about classes
running too late into the afternoon or evening, or don't want large
gaps of free time between lessons, you will need to check very carefully
with the college to find out more about how classes are timetabled.
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All full time ELICOS courses in Australia run for
a minimum 25 hours a week inorder to comply with student visa conditions
and accreditation rules. However, the 25 hours often includes 5
hours of supervised self-study so check with the college if you
are not sure.
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It is possible to study English part time at almost
every college if you have a visitor or working holiday visa.
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According to accreditation rules, accredited English
colleges must maintain:
- An average of no more than 15 students
per teacher per class
- A maximum of 18 students in any one class
at any one time
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Yes, but this is often because of accreditation
and safety rules which also limit the number of students a college
can put in each classroom to how much floor space is available:
- Colleges which applied for accreditation before
July 2001 = minimum 1.6 metres per student
- Colleges which applied for accreditation after
July 1, 2001 = minimum 2 metres per student
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The best way to do this is ask the
college before you enrol what the current proportions of
the major nationalities are. Colleges are usually happy to give
you this information. It is worthwhile asking as some colleges can
have more than 50% of students coming from the same country.
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A Homestay is when a student 'boards' in the home
(house or flat) of a local resident.
Types of Homestay
- Full Homestay - includes a furnished room (bed
and linen, wardrobe, desk and lamp), meals (evening meal prepared
by host) and bills (except telephone)
- Half / Part Homestay - includes all of the above
except meals
Cost (Full Homestay)
$180 - $220 a week depending on the city, location
and age of student (under 18 year old students pay more)
Homestay provider
The Homestay providor is typically a family but
can also be single.
Number of students in the Homestay
Often there will be more than one student living
in a Homestay. The maximum should be 4. If there is more than 4
students then the residence is usually referred to as a Hostel or
Boarding House, not a Homestay.
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According to accreditation rules, an
English language college needs to provide some kind of accomodation
service. They might have their own accommodation office but many
choose to use a Homestay agent instead. Homestays are by far the
most popular form of accommodation and cost anywhere from $170 to
$220 depending on the college and city. The price includes food
and power bills and you normally have to pay 2 - 4 weeks in advance.
Most colleges will also charge an accommodation placement fee of
between $100 and $200.
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No. Inorder to have the authority to issue
letters of offer to overseas students for the purposes of getting
a student visa, an English language college must be approved by
the National ELICOS Accreditation Scheme (NEAS), a private company
which is recognized by the Federal and State governments of Australia
as the main accreditation authority for ELICOS colleges. Colleges
which rely on travellers for business, won't normally be accredited.
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You only need a student visa if you plan to study
full time for longer than 12 weeks. Normally you should apply for
the visa before you come to Australia. Another option might be to
come to Australia on a visitor visa and then apply for a student
visa after you arrive. Whether you can do this, however, will depend
on your nationality so check with an Australian
Government representative in your country first.
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