Australia guide · PR courses · 4 min read
The best courses to study in Australia for PR, and what each one really takes.
No course gives PR. Courses that lead to occupations Australia keeps hiring for, with a clear skills assessment, give you the best chance: nursing, teaching, social work, engineering, some IT roles and trades. Each needs a body to assess your qualification and often a higher English score than the student visa. Choose by the job you want and the assessment you can pass, then check the occupation lists.
The short version
- No course is a 'PR course'. Occupations go on Australia's skilled lists; the course is how you qualify for one.
- Every occupation has an assessing body: ANMAC for nurses, AITSL for teachers, ACS for IT, Engineers Australia, accounting bodies, AASW for social work.
- Fields with registration (nursing, teaching, social work) turned into jobs fastest for our graduates: nursing 89.8% in the field within 6 months.
- Lists change most years. A course that suits PR now may not in 3 years, so choose one that's worth it even without PR.
- Points come from English, age, Australian study, regional study and work. A higher English score is the single cheapest boost.
Start with the right question
The wrong question is “which course gives PR?” The right one is “which job do I want, and can I pass its assessment?” Australia’s skilled visas list occupations, not courses. Your degree is how you qualify for an occupation, and an assessing body decides whether it does.
Fields, assessments and our outcomes
Our 2026 survey of graduates from 2023 to 2025, all countries, by field:
| Field | Assessing body in Australia | What the assessment needs | Our graduates working in the field within 6 months |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nursing | ANMAC (and NMBA registration) | An accredited nursing degree, registration-level English | 79 of 88 (89.8%) |
| Public health and allied health | The body for each profession | Usually a specific accredited degree | 12 of 14 (85.7%) |
| Information technology | ACS | An ICT degree with enough ICT content, sometimes work experience | 73 of 92 (79.3%) |
| Engineering | Engineers Australia | An accredited engineering degree, or a competency report | 36 of 46 (78.3%) |
| Data science | ACS, for most data roles | An ICT degree with enough ICT content | 27 of 34 (79.4%) |
| Accounting | CPA Australia, CA ANZ or IPA | An accredited degree covering the core areas | 30 of 40 (75.0%) |
| Business and MBA | Often VETASSESS, depending on the role | A degree closely related to the role, and work | 49 of 72 (68.1%) |
| Hospitality and cookery | TRA for trades, VETASSESS for management | Qualifications plus real work hours | 17 of 26 (65.4%) |
Teachers are assessed by AITSL and social workers by the AASW; both need an accredited degree and have been in demand for years.
The four fields we see work best for Nepali students
1. Nursing. The clearest route: accredited degree, registration, graduate programs, and a long-standing shortage. The catch is the registration English (IELTS 7 in listening, reading and speaking, 6.5 in writing, for tests from 23 April 2026) and the unpaid placements. Nursing in Australia.
2. Teaching. Early childhood and secondary teaching (maths, science) have been short for years. You need an accredited initial teacher education degree and high English. Fewer Nepali students consider it, so there’s less competition.
3. Engineering. Civil, electrical and mechanical engineering are in demand, but only with an Engineers Australia accredited degree, and local work experience matters for jobs.
4. Social work and community services. An accredited social work degree, assessed by the AASW, leads to steady work. It suits students who want people-facing careers.
IT, data and accounting: possible, and crowded
These are the most popular courses among Nepali students, which is the problem. Many graduates compete for the same roles, and points cut-offs for common IT and accounting occupations have been high. They work best when you add something: a specialist skill, a high English score, a professional year, or work experience before you start.
Points: what you can actually change
| Points factor | Can you plan it? | What helps |
|---|---|---|
| Age | No | Under 33 scores highest |
| English | Yes | Proficient or superior English scores far more than competent |
| Australian study | Yes | At least 2 academic years of study in Australia |
| Regional study | Yes | Study and live at a regional campus |
| Skilled work experience | Partly | Work in your occupation in Australia or overseas |
| Professional year | Yes, in IT, accounting and engineering | A one-year program after graduating |
| Partner skills | Partly | A skilled partner adds points; from October 2026 partners can’t come on most new student visas |
The cheapest single boost is English. Moving from “competent” to “superior” English adds more points than most other factors, and it’s a score you can plan for during your degree.
Courses we steer students away from
Not because they’re bad, but because they’re bought for the wrong reason:
- A cheap vocational diploma as a “visa route”. In FY 2025/26 Nepali applicants for vocational courses had a 37.9% grant rate.
- A general business diploma after a bachelor’s with no reason. It reads as a visa purchase, and it’s refused on the Genuine Student test.
- Cookery for a student who doesn’t want to cook. The trade assessment needs real hours in a kitchen.
Our view
Choose the job first, then the course, then the country. 78.4% of our graduates who answered our 2026 survey were working in their field within 6 months. That doesn’t come from the visa. It comes from a course choice made a year before the visa, for a job the student actually wanted.
