Guideline for Statement of Purpose

To apply for a student visa for Australia you will need to attach a letter of purpose indicating your reasons for
choosing to do a course in Australia. As an applicant of a student visa, you need to meet the GTE (Genuine Temporary
Entrant) Requirement. To meet this requirement, you need to demonstrate to the Australian Immigration
Department that you genuinely intend to use the studentvisa program to temporarily come to Australia to gain a
qualification.

The letter must be written by you. As English is not your first language, Immigration doesn’t expect the letter to be
written in perfect English. Indeed, they expect the letter to be written at your level ofEnglish. The letter must clearly
detail the reasons why you are applying for a student visa.

The Statement of Purpose letter must address the following:

1. Introduction of your background and education/employment history

Briefly introduce yourself, explain your background, you past studies and employment circumstances.
We suggest you provide details about your:

• Academic achievements indicating the dates when you achieved your qualifications (minimum
Year 10-12 results to your highest qualifications).
• Relevant work experience (provide at least name of the company, period of employment and details
about the position held). If there is a relevant gap between jobs explain why.

2. Value of the course to your future

The course you wish to study must be consistent with your educational background, your current level of
education, relevance to past or proposed future employment in your home country and/or the expected
remuneration in your country after completing the course. We suggest you cover the following:

• Reasons why you chose to study in Australia and not in your home country by comparing institutions
that offer the similar programs. Highlight the reasons why you chose Australia as your preferred
destination over other countries by comparing institutions that offer the similar programs (for example,
quality of education, quality of life, to develop your English language skills, etc).
Demonstrate that you have done some research to support why you selected the college and the
course by comparing with other institutions that offer similar programs.
• If you have already completed a degree that is higher to the course you wish to study, youmust explain
why you are interested in the course. You must address the value of the course to your career growth
(one reason may be that as the certificate is in English this will be beneficial in your home country, and
you may have an advantage over people that haven’t undertaken a course overseas).
• Reasons why you chose to study the course and how it will benefit you in your future career prospects
when you return home or in other countries.

3. Future career plans in your home country

In this section you need to provide detailed information about your future career plans highlighting the intended
area or job that you want to do (consistent with the course), job title and targeted companies for employment
once you return to your home country. You need to keep in mind that the student visa is a temporary visa and
therefore youwill need to refer to your plan after completing your course and returning to your home country.

Feb 2022
You will also need to explain how the amount you are investing in your studies in Australia will be beneficial to your
future when you return to your home country. It is suggested you mention the reasons and incentives you have for
returning to your home country, for example, family ties, family assets, properties, possible employment offer, etc.

If you are planning to work in a family business when you return to your home country, please provide a clear
explanation of the business and your expected position in the company. You need to mention how you will apply
your acquired knowledge and skill to your role once you return to your home country.

4. Financial information

If you have dependents (spouse and children), please provide their names and age, and indicate if they are going to
accompany you or remain in your home country whilst you study in Australia. You need to indicate who will sponsor
you financially and what they do for living. If you have family members or relatives living in Australia, you need to
mention about your relationship with them and whether you will be staying with them.

We recommend you include the accommodation arrangement in Australia by including your research result on types
of accommodation, price range, location, etc.

The SOP does not need to be long (try to limit up to 2 pages). However, you need to provide as muchinformation as
possible (for example, previous visa refusal, reasons for frequent oversea travels, unusual sponsorship, etc) so the
Australian Immigration Department can have a complete understanding of your circumstances. Generally,
Immigration will decide based on the information provided by you without requesting any further documents.

You can find all information about the GTE Criteria in the Immigration Department website:

https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-listing/student-500/genuine-temporary-entrant

Feb 2022