TAFE SA Admission Requirements

This guide is for Nepali students applying to TAFE SA in South Australia. It covers the acceptance rate, the grades and English scores you need, the documents to prepare in Nepal and each step from application to student visa. For campuses, fees and scholarships, see our TAFE SA profile, and for courses and intakes, our TAFE SA courses guide. The wider picture is in our guide to studying in Australia from Nepal.

What is TAFE SA’s acceptance rate?

TAFE SA doesn’t publish an acceptance rate. Percentages quoted on other websites are outside estimates, not official numbers.

What decides an offer is meeting your course’s academic and English requirements. TAFE SA also runs its own Genuine Student assessment and a funds check before it issues an unconditional offer. A college offer doesn’t mean a visa, so read the visa note at the end of the steps below.

Take the Genuine Student step seriously. Under TAFE SA’s Genuine Student guidelines, an applicant it finds not genuine is rejected and can’t apply again for up to 2 years. The same 2-year bar applies if Home Affairs refuses your visa on Genuine Student grounds.

What grades do you need from Nepal?

TAFE SA asks Nepali applicants for Grade 12 with 60% in their top 4 subjects, even where the general rule for a course is Year 10.

TAFE SA’s entry requirements page names the Higher Secondary Education Board certificate (Grade 12) for Nepal. If you repeated an exam, you must send all your results, including the re-sit. It gives the rule as a percentage and publishes no NEB GPA figure, so ask TAFE SA or your agent how it reads your marksheet.

Your course can still add its own conditions. Examples from TAFE SA’s course pages:

• Certificate III in Patisserie: this page states the Nepal rule directly: Year 12 with 60% in the top 4 subjects, leaving out native language.
• Diploma of Hospitality Management: Certificates III and IV in hospitality, cookery or patisserie first. Under-18s can’t take part in alcohol tastings on this course.
• Associate Degree in Electrical Engineering: Year 12 with Maths, or the Certificate III in Engineering (Technical) first.
• Diploma of Graphic Design: Year 12 and a folio of your design work.
• Diploma of Nursing: Year 12, plus a Maths test at orientation. If you fail it, you can’t start the diploma and must take other study first.

You must be 17 by your start date, and 18 for the Diploma of Nursing on TAFE SA’s entry page. If you are over 21 and short of the academic rule, a detailed CV of your work history can be assessed case by case.

To see where your +2 grades stand, convert your NEB GPA to a percentage with our NEB GPA calculator. If your marks are lower or you have a gap, read about the GPA required to study in Australia and the study gap accepted in Australia.

What English scores does TAFE SA accept?

Most courses ask for IELTS Academic 6.0 with no band under 5.0, higher education courses want 5.5 in all bands, and Nursing asks for 7.0.

TAFE SA also accepts CELPIP, LanguageCert, MET, OET and Cambridge tests. It names TOEFL iBT as accepted, but the table we read shows no TOEFL score, so ask TAFE SA for yours. Tests must be under two years old when your course starts, and the Nursing test under 12 months. The student visa has its own minimum: IELTS 6.0, PTE Academic 47 or TOEFL iBT 67.

If your score falls short, TAFE SA’s English Language Centre in Adelaide can help. It lists English for Academic Purposes 20 for a move from IELTS 5.0 to 6.0, and EAP Advanced for higher levels. TAFE SA says these courses don’t meet the English rule for the Diploma of Nursing. To compare scores, see our guide to the minimum IELTS and PTE for Australia.

Which documents do you need from Nepal?

You send your academic results, your English test result and your passport, and TAFE SA may also ask for a Genuine Student assessment and proof of funds.

• Your Grade 12 results, with every re-sit result, such as your NEB marksheet. Our guide explains how to get transcripts in Nepal from NEB, TU and other boards.
• Your IELTS, PTE or other test report, still valid when your course starts.
• A copy of your passport. If you don’t have one yet, see getting a Nepali passport for study abroad.
• A folio, an interview or an aptitude test if your course asks for one. Arts courses often want a portfolio, and health courses a skills test.
• Your Genuine Student answers and financial documents if TAFE SA asks. They must show funds for your first 12 months, and everything must be in English.

TAFE SA’s Genuine Student answers must match what you plan to put in your visa application. Nepali certificates and bank documents often carry Bikram Sambat dates; our Nepali date converter helps you match them to the A.D. dates on your forms.

How do you apply to TAFE SA, step by step?

You apply online or through an agent in Nepal, accept your offer within 8 weeks, pay, get your CoE and then apply for the visa.

1. Choose your course on TAFE SA’s course list and read its entry requirements on the course page.
2. Apply. TAFE SA’s how to apply page says you can apply online or through an agent in your country. Its agents page lists agents by country.
3. Get your offer. TAFE SA checks the course requirements, your Genuine Student answers and your funds. You may get a conditional offer first. Our Genuine Student guide explains what you need to show.
4. Accept and pay. Accept online within 8 weeks and pay your first semester’s fees, then upload your receipts. To send tuition from a Nepali bank you need a No Objection Certificate (NOC); see how to apply for an NOC in Nepal.
5. Get your CoE and OSHC. TAFE SA issues your Confirmation of Enrolment (CoE), and you need OSHC health cover for your whole stay. TAFE SA names Bupa as its preferred OSHC provider, and you can show proof of cover from elsewhere.
6. Apply for your student visa (subclass 500) with your CoE, OSHC, funds and English result. The fee starts from AUD 2,500. See the Home Affairs student visa page, our SOP guide for an Australia student visa and the financial documents guide.

VET student visa applications from Nepal face tough assessment, and recent Home Affairs data shows very few VET visas granted to applicants from Nepal. Read our Australia visa success rate from Nepal page before you pay. A +2 graduate choosing a diploma must explain why it fits their study and career plan under Genuine Student.

TAFE SA’s associate degrees and bachelor’s aren’t VET courses, but the visa isn’t easy for them either. Our how to apply for an Australia student visa page gives the full timeline, and our branches in Kathmandu, Lalitpur, Chitwan, Itahari and Pokhara can check your file.