Requirements to Study in Australia for Indian Students: 2027 Marks, English & Funds

Requirements to Study in Australia for Indian Students
Requirements to Study in Australia for Indian Students

The requirements to study in Australia for Indian students come down to three things for a 2027 intake: Class 12 marks, an English score, and proof of funds. At RMIT, the marks bar is 65% from CBSE or ISC and 70% from a state board. The Home Affairs Subclass 500 student visa needs IELTS 6.0, and universities such as Sydney and Monash set a standard 6.5. For funds, you show AUD 29,710 a year for living costs, on top of a year’s tuition and your travel. RMIT, Wollongong, Swinburne, and UniSC publish a bar for your board, and Deakin accepts a three-year degree for a master’s. Courses, cities, and work rights are in our study in Australia guide.

Key Takeaways

  • CBSE or ISC: 65% for RMIT; 60% for Swinburne and UniSC.
  • Telangana or Andhra Pradesh board: try Wollongong (65%), Swinburne, UniSC, and RMIT. Sydney lists Andhra Pradesh at 75% for Arts; Telangana’s higher bar is unpublished. UNSW and Melbourne don’t accept your board for direct entry.
  • Below the cut-off: RMIT Foundation Studies uses your Class 11 marks.
  • Three-year degree: Deakin accepts it for a master’s; Melbourne routes Indian graduates through authorised agents.
  • English: IELTS 6.0 for the visa, at a test centre, not at home.
  • Parents: show AUD 29,710 (approx. INR 19.98 lakh) for living costs plus a year’s fees and travel, or tax documents showing a parent, or both working parents combined, earned at least AUD 87,856 (approx. INR 59.09 lakh) in 12 months.
Table of Contents
Class 12 marks to study in Australia, by board and university Scroll here ↓ Requirements to study in Australia for masters with a 3-year or 4-year degree Scroll here ↓ English requirements: university band vs Subclass 500 visa score Scroll here ↓ Proof of funds for an Australian student visa Scroll here ↓ Australian student visa checklist: CoE, health exams and Genuine Student Scroll here ↓ Frequently Asked Questions Scroll here ↓ Your next step Scroll here ↓

Class 12 marks to study in Australia, by board and university

Of the requirements to study in Australia for Indian students, Class 12 marks are the one your board changes: each university sets its own bar. RMIT’s current India entry table asks for a 65% average from CBSE or ISC but 70% from a state board for a standard bachelor’s, so state-board students need five points more.

UniversityCourseCBSEISCTelangana boardAndhra Pradesh boardOther state boards
RMIT UniversityBachelor (standard)65%65%70%70%70%
University of WollongongBachelor (Group 1 courses)10.5 points*77%65%65%70%
Swinburne University of TechnologyBachelor (minimum)60%60%62%62%62% (Haryana and Punjab 65%)
University of the Sunshine CoastBachelor (minimum)60%60%65%65%65% (Haryana and Punjab 70%)
Griffith UniversityStandard entry (2026 guide)65%65%Not listedNot listedNot listed
Monash UniversityArts, 202770%65%Not listedNot listedNot listed
University of SydneyArts, 202712.5 points*81%Higher, not published75%75% for 5 named states; higher, not published, for the rest
UNSW SydneyArts, 202775%83%Not acceptedNot accepted84% (Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka only)
University of MelbourneArts, 202774%74%Not acceptedNot accepted75% (Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Karnataka only; current guide)

If you’re on the Telangana or Andhra Pradesh board, start your shortlist at Wollongong, Swinburne, UniSC, and RMIT. Each publishes a bar for your board, between 62% and 70%. Sydney adds a fifth option for Andhra Pradesh students, at 75% for Arts; Telangana’s higher bar there is unpublished. Don’t plan on direct entry to UNSW or Melbourne: neither takes your board.

CBSE and ISC don’t get the same bar either. For Arts, Monash wants 65% from ISC but 70% from CBSE, while UNSW wants 83% from ISC but 75% from CBSE. Melbourne raised its Arts bar from 65 for 2026 to 74 for 2027, so don’t rely on a cut-off from a senior’s old offer. Compare campuses and fees in our list of universities in Australia.

Missed the bar? RMIT has several routes below a bachelor’s; two are:

  • Foundation Studies (a pre-university course) uses your Class 11 (10+1) marks: at least 60% for CBSE or ISC, 65% for a state board.
  • A Diploma asks for 60% in Class 12 from CBSE or ISC and 65% from a state board.

Physical Education, Art, and General Studies won’t lift your RMIT average. Some undergraduate courses also set prerequisite subjects. Monash’s 2027 Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) requires English; with an Indian board, it assumes you passed Maths plus chemistry, physics or biology at its set grade. Course choices by stream are in our guide to studying in Australia after 12th.

Requirements to study in Australia for masters with a 3-year or 4-year degree

A three-year Indian bachelor’s can still get you into a coursework master’s: Deakin’s international entry requirements ask for at least a three-year undergraduate degree. Your final percentage then decides where you can go:

  • 60% or above (First Class): Macquarie, for example, counts an Indian 60% as meeting every band in its master’s table, up to a 65 average.
  • 50% to 59% (Second Class): you can still apply to courses that ask for Macquarie’s minimum, a 50 average. Macquarie’s postgraduate entry table counts an Indian 50% as meeting it.
  • Aiming for Melbourne: if you’ve already studied at an Indian university, you must apply to Melbourne as an Indian graduate through one of its authorised education agents.
  • Planning an MBA: most MBAs ask for work experience, commonly around two to three years, though a few accept less and some ask for more. The University of Melbourne MBA entry requirements ask for a bachelor’s degree, two years of documented work experience, a personal statement, and referees. Melbourne also wants GMAT or GRE if your degree isn’t from an Australian or New Zealand university.

Treat 50% to 55% as borderline, not safe. ANU’s India entry schedule, for one, weighs which Indian university you studied at. So the same 55% can be enough from one Indian university and short from another. Course-by-course options and fees are in our guide to the master’s in Australia.

English requirements: university band vs Subclass 500 visa score

The visa needs IELTS Academic 6.0 overall for tests taken on or after 7 August 2025, under the Home Affairs Subclass 500 rules. It drops to 5.5 if your offer adds at least 10 weeks of English classes (ELICOS) to your degree or starts you on a Foundation course. With at least 20 weeks, it drops to 5.0.

TestVisa minimumExample university score
IELTS Academic6.0Sydney: 6.5, no band below 6.0
PTE Academic47Monash: 58
TOEFL iBT67Monash: 79

Aim for the score in your offer letter; it’s the higher one. Four visa rules matter as much as the score:

  • Test centre, not home. Fully online, at-home tests such as IELTS Online and TOEFL iBT Home Edition don’t count for the visa, even though Monash lists IELTS Online for admission.
  • Timing. Take the test no more than 2 years before you lodge your visa application.
  • TOEFL registration. From 21 January 2026, pick “Taking TOEFL for Australia” when you register, or the score isn’t valid for the visa.
  • No exemption for most Indian applicants. Only passports from the UK, USA, Canada, New Zealand, and Ireland are exempt. The study exemption needs at least 5 years of study in English in Australia, the UK, USA, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, or Ireland. English-medium schooling in India doesn’t count. Postgraduate research degrees, standalone English courses, and school courses are exempt from the visa test only; your university still sets its own English score.

Proof of funds for an Australian student visa

In 2026, AUD 29,710 (approx. INR 19.98 lakh) is the yearly living-cost figure for one student on the Home Affairs Subclass 500 funds checklist. The visa asks for it on top of 12 months of course fees and your travel. So the money you show for an Australia study visa is tuition plus this sum, not this sum alone.

Parents: add AUD 2,000 for travel from India, the Home Affairs guide figure. The full year-one budget is in our cost of studying in Australia guide.

Evidence can include deposits of money from a financial institution, a government loan or a loan from a financial institution, or a scholarship. Awards open to Indian students are in our scholarships in Australia guide. A bank balance certificate for a single day doesn’t show how you built up the money.

If savings are thin, there’s a second route: show that a parent, or both working parents combined, earned at least AUD 87,856 in the 12 months before you apply. The proof must be official government documents under 12 months old, such as income-tax assessments, not bank statements or an employer’s letter.

From our counselling desk: In our Hyderabad funds files, what stalls a case is rarely the amount. It's where a sudden large deposit came from, so move savings in early and keep a paper trail for every transfer.

Australian student visa checklist: CoE, health exams and Genuine Student

Besides the funds, your visa application needs:

  • A Confirmation of Enrolment (CoE) from your university, still valid when your visa is decided. It must be for a full-time course on CRICOS (the government register of courses for overseas students). Lodge without a CoE and Home Affairs treats the visa application as invalid. Our Australian student visa guide covers the application steps.
  • Your answers to the Genuine Student requirement questions.
  • OSHC (Overseas Student Health Cover, compulsory health insurance) from the day you land until you leave.
  • The health check (below) and, from age 16, the character check.
  • A student visa application charge of AUD 2,500.
  • From 2 October 2026, most students must apply from outside Australia, and most can’t bring a partner or children.

India isn’t on the low-risk list for tuberculosis (TB), so for a stay of 6 months or more you generally need these Home Affairs health examinations:

  • a medical examination;
  • a chest x-ray, if you’re 11 or older;
  • a kidney blood test (serum creatinine/eGFR), if you’re 15 or older;
  • HIV and hepatitis B and C tests, if you’re 15 or older and training to be a doctor, dentist, nurse, or paramedic; any health-care trainee aged 15 or older also needs a latent TB screening test.

In our Tirupati office, the weakest Genuine Student answers repeat the brochure. Strong ones link your Class 12 stream or bachelor’s to a specific Australian course outcome and a plan back home. There’s usually no upper age limit for a student visa or a university place, so age alone won’t rule you out. If you’ve had a gap, explain it in those answers.

Get in Touch

Frequently Asked Questions

Only in a few cases. Students applying for a Doctoral Degree (PhD) can include family, and so can a few other groups, such as fully funded foreign-government scholars. Everyone else should plan to go alone. Your family can’t apply to join you later, in any circumstance.

At some universities, yes. Under Monash’s entry requirements for graduate courses, a coursework master’s takes three semesters if you enter with a relevant three-year bachelor’s degree. With a relevant four-year degree, it takes two. The extra semester adds fees and living costs, so a four-year BTech or BE graduate finishes sooner.

It asks a set of questions about your study plans, and each answer can be no more than 150 words. One question asks why you aren’t taking a similar course in India. Answer it by naming what the Australian course gives you that the Indian option doesn’t, such as a specialisation.

Yes, until you turn 18 or your stay ends, whichever comes first. Your university can arrange your housing and care, confirmed in a CAAW letter. Or a parent, or a relative aged 21 or over nominated in writing by your parent, acts as guardian; one coming from India applies for a Subclass 590 visa, lodged with yours.

Not straight into a degree. For 2027, UNSW’s undergraduate entry table accepts Telangana board results only for its UNSW College Diplomas, at a minimum aggregate of 75%. Andhra Pradesh isn’t on that list at all. If you want a degree place from day one, Wollongong and RMIT take your board for direct entry.

Your next step

Your next four moves:

  1. Find your board’s row in the marks table, shortlist from it, and follow our Australian admission process guide from offer to CoE.
  2. Book an English test at a test centre, aimed at your university’s score.
  3. Gather your documents. The University of Sydney’s international application guide asks for official certificates and transcripts, proof of English, and your passport. Depending on the programme or your background, you may also need a personal statement, portfolio, or CV. Documents not in English need a government-accredited translator such as NAATI, or your school’s registrar.
  4. Start the funds paper trail now, not in the month you apply, using our Australia student visa documents checklist.

AOEC India has more than 10 years of experience and has helped with over 12,000 visas, with counselling offices in Hyderabad and Tirupati. Our study in Australia consultants in Hyderabad test your file against the requirements to study in Australia for Indian students: they check your marks against each university’s board rules, review your Genuine Student answers, and audit your funds before you lodge.

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