When choosing a city to study in it should provide a safe, clean environment with a healthy lifestyle. There should be plenty of interesting things to do outside of normal study time, and a good climate to do them in. The cost of living must be affordable. Above all else, the destination must provide an education of world standing. Perth, Western Australia - Perth Education City, provides all of those things and more.

Before canvassing Perth’s world-class education facilities, we’d like you to consider why it rates as one of the world’s preferred holiday destinations.

Wide Open Spaces

A unique and alluring feature of the State of Western Australia is the space. It occupied the western third of the ‘down under’ continent and stands 2,400 kilometres tall. The variety of landscapes and natural attractions in between is endless.

Amidst the rugged beauty of the semi-tropical north are some of the world’s biggest open cut iron ore and diamond mines, while in the temperate south there are rolling green pastures sprinkled with fat sheep and cattle, and vineyards whose wines are soothing palates the world over. The south is also home to some of the world’s tallest trees.

Western Australia’s girth is also impressive - 1600 km from the sparkling Indian Ocean, eastwards to Central Australia, the epicentre of the timeless Aboriginal culture. Across an area larger than Texas, Japan, New Zealand, England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland combined, live just 1.7 million Western Australians. The freedom provided by these wide open spaces and the fact that you can go for days without seeing another person is a potent drawcard for the half a million visitors who choose to visit the State each year.

Perth Education City

Perth, Western Australia’s vibrant and sophisticated capital city, is perfectly located on the coast in the south west of the State. It has a classic Mediterranean climate - mild winters and warm to hot, dry summers. Its pristine white beaches are something to behold, and it boasts more days of full sunshine than any other Australian capital!

Perth’s population of 1.3 million is a fantastic melting pot of cultures - more than half were either born overseas or derived from the scores of migrant cultures which have helped build this cosmopolitan oasis.

By international standards, Perth is relatively uncrowded and has a relaxed, healthy lifestyle - a stress-free environment which brings out the best in students. It offers a world-class health care system which is available to overseas students as part of their visa application. Each year, more than 12,000 students from all around the world are seizing the unique double chance offered by Perth for achieving academic excellence whilst gaining a life experience to be cherished forever.

A ‘one-stop-shop’ for students

To make it a little easier for overseas students to choose where to study, Western Australia operates a single consortium of the 20 major providers of international education services - the Western Australian International Education Marketing Group (WAIEMG). The Group operates under the banner Perth Education City which covers both public and private education and training sectors. Perth Education City provides a convenient ‘one-stop-shop’ for enquiries. It also plays a key role in maintaining the acclaimed integrity and quality of the State’s education services. It was the first in Australia to adopt an ethical code of practice for members.

University Studies

Perth has five universities (four government, one private) giving the State one of the highest university-population ratios in Asia-Pacific. The government universities range in size from 8,000 to 20,000 students with their academic years based on two semesters. Some courses are available on a trimester system. Intakes for most courses are in February and July of each year.

Traditional entry into university for local students is based on their Tertiary Entrance Examination (TEE) score from Year 12. While successful Australian students typically enter university in February of the following year, international students may also enter in July.

International students have two pathways for university entrance:

• Acceptable secondary qualifications from their own country or from Australia (including TEE); and the Western Australian Universities Foundation Program, a special program which allows students to complete their last year of secondary study in Western Australia, instead of at home, doing a course which is recognised by the State’s universities as equal to the TEE.
• The TEE program offers the greatest choice as it provides students with access to all universities in Australia, New Zealand, UK, USA and Canada. Depending on subjects studied, students may gain entry to a number of university facilities. All universities offer a wide range of quality undergraduate and postgraduate studies including the sciences, humanities, commerce and business administration. A Masters of Business Administration (MBA) gained in Perth is particularly attractive, for students are allowed to simultaneously ‘double major’, e.g. economics and marketing.

All universities are situated within a 25 km radius of the central business district of Perth, and are served by an excellent freeway and public transport system.

Vocational Education and Training

Vocational education and training is provided by both government institutions and private colleges. The most common are the Technical and Further Education colleges (TAFE) which are jointly owned and operated by the Government of Western Australia and the Australian Government. They focus on the development of technical and para-professional skills, and their courses are often run in collaboration with industry.

TAFE operates a network of 22 campuses across the State, enrolling over 150,000 students each year into about 600 Certificate, Diploma and Advanced Diploma courses. There are over 4000 expert lecturers. TAFE Diplomas and Advanced Diplomas provide entry into university courses with credits up to two years before granted. The value of the TAFE centres is widely acknowledged. For example, international hotelier Sheraton Hotels uses TAFE international for the on-site training of all hospitality staff at its new establishments throughout Asia.

English Language Studies

For students who do not have English as their first language, proficiency is required as the ‘gateway’ to other studies. The internationally accredited English Language Intensive Courses for Overseas Students (ELICOS) provided by Perth’s colleges and universities are second to none.

There are 11 accredited ELICOS institutions in Perth, all providing modern, fully equipped language laboratories with state-of-the-art audio visual aids. There is infinite flexibility in the content and duration of the ELICOS courses provided. They can be tailor-made to client needs and can be supplied in either Perth or off-shore/in-country through face-to-face consultancies or by using innovative computer-Internet services.

Common themes for English study courses are English for business, computer studies, tourism and hospitality, and examination preparation courses. English language ‘study tours’ which incorporate visits to or study of various aspects of Western Australian business or cultural life.

Technologically advanced

Western Australia’s major universities and colleges are skilled at providing innovative computer-based training and education programs which can be accessed anywhere in the world through the Internet.

They commonly use ‘telecentre marketing’ for facilitating overseas consultancies in English language and vocational and postgraduate studies for the world’s corporate sector. Perth is developing as a ‘hub’ for international business as capitalising on the dynamism of the Asia-Pacific and the Indian Ocean Rim.

Many of the universities and colleges also offer a range of cultural studies applicable to those countries and often have ‘sister’ linkages and ‘twinning’ study programs with equivalent institutions throughout the region.

For all of the aforementioned reasons, Perth Education City is well worth considering. It provides the ideal balance of an affordable, world-class education and an unsurpassed outdoors lifestyle.

Author: Trevor Gallagher - please visit: www.perth.educationcity.com.au

This article first appeared in TransWorld Education