Course Credit Transfer Application for International Students Procedure

Policy code: AG1459
Policy owner: Director, Student Services and Registrar
Approval authority: Chief Learner Experience Officer
Approval date: 05 March 2025
Next review date: 05 March 2028

Purpose
Scope
Legislative Context
Definitions
Actions
Applying for credit at time of admission process
Student Applies for Program Credit at Enrolment or While Enrolled
Responsibilities
Supporting Documents
Forms/Record Keeping
Implementation

Purpose

Standard 2 of the National Code 2018 requires Registered Providers to have:

  • Documented procedures for granting and recording course credit.
  • Provided a record of coursecredit to the student, which must be signed or otherwise accepted by the student.
  • Copy of student’s acceptance of course credit placed on student’s file.

This procedure describes how the University meets these requirements for international students.

Scope

This procedure applies to all international students of the University, irrespective of teaching location.

Legislative Context

  • Education Services for Overseas StudentsAct 2000.
  • National Code of Practice for Providers of Education and Training to Overseas Students 2018
  • Tertiary Education Quality and StandardsAgency Act 2011
  • Tertiary Education Quality Standards Agency (TEQSA) Threshold Standards 2021

Definitions

Term Definition
Articulation Agreement An arrangement between Federation University and other education providers that enables student to progress from a completed qualification to another with admission and/or credit in a defined pathway.
CoE Confirmation of Enrolment  - A document provided electronically which is issued by the University to intending international students and which must accompany their application for a student visa. It confirms the student’s eligibility to enrol in the course/qualification of the University, at a specific teaching location.
Course Course of education and training for Higher Education.
Course Credit The value (exemption) assigned for the recognition of equivalence in content and learning outcomes between different types of learning and/or qualifications. Credit reduces the amount of learning required to achieve a qualification and may be through credit transfer or articulation.
Credit Assessment A process to determine the amount of credit an applicant is eligible for based on prior study, and/or relevant experience, course structure (core units/majors/minors, etc), student's choice of major and limits for credit.
fdlGrades A system which the University uses to monitor the progress of students through their courses/qualifications and maintains a record of articulation agreements May be abbreviated to FDL.
IA International Admissions
Immigration Department of Home Affairs
International Student A person holding an Australian student visa and defined as an ‘Overseas Student’ in the ESOS Act or studying at an off-shore teaching location.
National Code National Code of Practice for Providers of Education and Training to Overseas Students 2018, as amended from time to time.
Partner Provider (PP) Educational Institution providing units and courses of the University through an approved Education Agreement.
PRISMS Provider Registration and International Students Management
Qualification Qualification of education and training for VET. Defined as Course in the ESOS Act.
School/Institute School/Institute delivering a course to international students.
StudyLink International Student online application system.

Actions

Activity Responsibility Steps
Understanding the implications of credit transfer Student
  1. Prior to applying for credit transfer, students should be aware that credit may:
    • Affect professional accreditation and seek appropriate advice from the accreditation body.
    • Result in a reduced course duration.
  2. International students should be aware this may affect their visa conditions as the University are required to list the revised course end date on the Offer/CoE
  3. Students should be aware that they may incur financial liability for units they are enrolled in for which credit is subsequently received if their credit application is submitted later than two week prior to census date for the relevant study period.
  4. Students may also receive a withdrawn grade which may affect their GPA.
  5. Applications submitted after census date may also impact a student’s study plan and course duration.

Applying for credit at time of admission process

Partner Providers Locations
For Federation University Campuses

Partner Providers Locations

Activity Responsibility Steps
Submit intent to apply for credit at time of admission Student 1. Student applies for course credit in their application to study at Federation University
Student to supply certified academic documentation translated into English, (including unit outlines) to support the credit application to the Partner Provider for inclusion in the application submission
Credit application included in admission application Partner 2. Partner submits the application to study via StudyLink partner uploads documentation to support credit application
Partner generates 9000 FDL StudyPlan, maps credit and uploads to StudyLink
Partner changes status to ‘pending credit’
Provisional credit is processed IA

3. IA issue Letter of Offer & Acceptance Agreement with provisional credit condition (PCA) via StudyLink.

Course Coordinator retains discretionary authority to amend provision credit advice from partner
Credit application assessed (where pre-approved articulation agreement or course precedence exists IA/international Credit Officer 4. a) IA determine sufficient documentation has been provided to assess eligibility for credit and Review credit application against articulation agreement register in FDL, or course precedence, if either exist proceed to 5.
Credit application assessed (where no approved articulation agreement or course precedence exists) Course Coordinator

4. b) If no articulation/precedence exists IA forward to Course Coordinator for approval via StudyLink.

Course Coordinator assesses partner recommendation for credit as per institute/school guidelines

Confirms or remaps credit on the 9000 studyplan in FDL and approves

Returns outcome via FDL and StudyLink
Upon enrolment, credit is recorded in MyStudent Centre and advised to student IA Credit Officer /Partner Liaison Officer

5. Student enrols, credits approved on 9000 studyplan plan are cloned to the 3000 student plan.

6. IA credits officer generated credit letter and forward to partner for distribution to student.

7. Credits are entered onto students’ transcript through FDL and MySC integration.

For Federation University Campuses

Activity Responsibility Steps
Applies for credit at time of admission via StudyLink Student

Student applies for course credit in their application to study at Federation University

Student to supply certified academic documentation (including unit outlines) to support the credit application at time of admission application
Credit application assessed (where pre-approved articulation agreement or course precedence exists) IA

5. a) IA determine sufficient documentation has been provided to assess eligibility for credit.

review credit application against articulation agreement register in FDL, or course precedence, if either exist, map credit to a 9000 StudyPlan

Issue Letter of Offer and Acceptance Agreement with credit included
Credit application assessed (where no approved articulation agreement or course precedence exists) Course Coordinator

8. b) If no articulation/precedence exists

IA generate 9000 studyplan in FDL, link to StudyLink and forward to Course Coordinator for approval via StudyLink

Course Coordinator assesses application as per institute/school guidelines

Maps credit on the 9000 studyplan in FDL and approves

Returns outcome via FDL and StudyLink recording remaining semesters of course and revised course duration.
Review outcome IA 9. review outcome and issue Letter of Offer and Acceptance Agreement with credit included
CoE issued International Student Compliance 10. CoE is issued reflecting the change of length of program study and listing credit approved (noting 9000 number from FDL).
Recording of credit Student Admin

11. Student enrols, Student Admin clone credit from 9000 to 3000 student number and course credit is recorded in Campus Solutions and credit letter issued via FDL.

Student will receive written notification of confirmed credit which will either include statement advising if the student has not contacted Student Admin by listed date it is assumed credit is accepted by student.

12. Credit letter is issued through fdlGrades.

Student Applies for Program Credit at Enrolment or While Enrolled

The Higher Education Academic Credit Transfer Procedure is inclusive of Federation Campus and Partner Provider Location students who apply for credit at time of enrolment or while enrolled.

Responsibilities

Specific responsibilities are included under Actions

  • Chief Learner Experience Officer (as the Approval Authority) is responsible for monitoring the implementation, outcomes and scheduled review of this procedure.
  • Director, Student Services and Registrar (as the Document Owner) is responsible for maintaining the content of this procedure as delegated by the Approval Authority.

Supporting Documents

Forms/Record Keeping

Title Location Responsible Officer Minimum Retention Period
Evidence of acceptance of credit Student File Institute/IA 7 years after completion of course

Implementation

The Course Credit Transfer Application for International Students Procedure will be implemented throughout the University community via:

  1. An Announcement Notice on the FedNews webpage;and
  2. Inclusion in the University's online Policy Library.
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 Glossary


Policy Glossary

Approval Authority: Chief Learner Experience Officer Original Issue 22/05/2009
Policy Sponsor: Director, Student Services and Registrar Current Version: 05/03/2025
CRICOS Provider Number 00103D Review Date: 05/03/2028
TEQSA Provider ID: PRV12151 Provider Category: Australian University
RTO Code 4909 Policy Code AG1459