How Much Gap Acceptable for Study in Australia

Written by Piyush Bhartiya, MBA

Published on Thu, May 2, 2019 6:04 AM • Updated on Mon, December 16, 2019 6:50 AM • 4 mins read

How much gap is accepted for study in Australia?

Australia is one of the most popular destinations for international students. Students from all over the world come to Australia to pursue their preferred courses. Australia has the third largest number of international students in the world, behind only of the United Kingdom and the United States of America.

It is indeed a dream destination to study for many students. However, to fulfill this dream of studying in Australia, there are many things which need to be done and the most important of it is getting a visa. And the next step then is getting an admission.

It is not uncommon to hear that students after completing their undergraduate courses/studied opted to take a gap year or years, rather. Many students take the gap, and the reasons for it can vary, be it their unwillingness to study further immediately after completing their under-graduation, work opportunities, family problems, or any other problems. There are several problems which can stop a student from pursuing post- graduation immediately after under-graduation. The reason for this can be voluntary or involuntary.

But first, how to get a visa?

Australia government has an Overseas Students Program (OSP) which allows students who are not Australian citizens to study in Australia if they are taking admission in a registered program.

OSP has many benefits for students, however, for that, they first need to get a visa, and for a visa, one needs to have a letter of acceptance or electronic confirmation of admission from the education provider they have applied to.

But will take a gap year affect your chances of getting a visa? It is possible that it may affect your chances of getting an admission itself, let alone visa. A gap year or years can indeed do a lot to a student, in many ways.

However, how this will affect your chance of getting admission in your dream universities in Australia?

Students who wish to take a gap year can take it. Australia allows a year of gap year; however, it is always better to have an explanation as to why the gap year was taken.

However, if the gap year is for more than a year, then the student must have reasons to justify such a gap, or their chances of admission can get hampered.

Many students get admission after taking years of the gap from their under-graduation. However, there needs to be a solid reason for it.

Most of the time, students who justify it with work experience have better chances of getting admission than the ones who don’t.

You can also justify gap years with reasons like family problems, time spent in doing some diploma course, health reasons, etc. However, one must have valid proofs and documents to claim these reasons.

One should not try to forge documents as it can lead to a lifetime ban to travel to Australia. It can also risk a student getting visa and admission in other universities in other parts of the world as well.

Although even a year’s gap is not accepted, as long as there are valid reasons there to justify it backed up by valid documents and proofs, one need not worry.

However, the end decision lies with the university one is applying to. To accept or reject one’s application is entirely into the hands of the university.

Therefore, it is advisable that if a student is planning to take a gap year after their under-graduation, and also plans to apply to Australia to study after it, one should do something worthwhile in that one year to justify that gap and increase their chances of getting admission in the university of their choice.