Data source: Department of Home Affairs, monthly study visa statistics, May 2026 decisions data, published 2026-05-31. This is data reporting only, not migration advice.
VET student visa applications decided onshore outnumbered those decided offshore by 3.46 to one in May 2026, according to the Department of Home Affairs monthly study visa statistics. Onshore VET decided applications reached 5,871 while offshore VET decided applications stood at 1,696 in the same month.
No other major study sector showed that pattern in May 2026. Higher Education offshore decided applications reached 13,318, compared to 6,764 decided onshore, with offshore outnumbering onshore by 1.97 to one. In ELICOS, offshore decided applications of 1,487 outnumbered onshore decided applications of 734 by 2.03 to one. VET was the only sector in which onshore decided applications substantially exceeded offshore volume in the month.
Grant rates diverged sharply between the two VET streams in May 2026. The VET offshore grant rate was 25.7% across 1,696 decided applications, down 8.7 percentage points from 34.4% in April 2026. The VET onshore grant rate was 60.1% across 5,871 decided applications, down 1.3 percentage points from 61.4% in April. The gap between the two streams was 34.4 percentage points.
The offshore fall of 8.7 points was steeper in absolute terms than the onshore fall of 1.3 points. Both rates declined month on month, but the offshore rate moved by more than six times the magnitude.
Setting VET alongside Higher Education and ELICOS illustrates the degree of divergence in offshore grant rates. In Higher Education, the May 2026 offshore grant rate was 70.8% across 13,318 decided applications, and the onshore rate was 89.4% across 6,764. In ELICOS, the offshore rate was 71.9% across 1,487 decided applications and the onshore rate was 88.2% across 734. Higher Education offshore and ELICOS offshore both ran above 70% in May 2026. VET offshore ran at 25.7%, 45 points below the Higher Education offshore rate and 46.2 points below the ELICOS offshore rate.
The high onshore share in VET reflects a structural feature of the sector. Students already in Australia who hold a valid visa and wish to continue in a VET course or change registered training organisations apply onshore. The 5,871 onshore VET decisions in May 2026 indicate a substantial cohort of existing students moving through the system in that month, separate from the offshore applicant pool.
What is not published in the Department of Home Affairs monthly statistics: a cross-tabulation of sector, stream and nationality in a single table requires the detailed monthly nationality-level tables rather than the headline sector figures. The figures in this article are from the published sector-level totals only. All volume figures are applications decided in May 2026, not applications newly lodged in that month. A decision in May 2026 may relate to an application lodged weeks or months earlier.
Individual circumstances vary. This article is general information, not migration or legal advice. For guidance on a specific application, consult a MARA registered migration agent.
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Sources
- Department of Home Affairs, Study visa statistics: https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/research-and-statistics/statistics/visa-statistics/study. May 2026. Data accessed via the StudyVisaHub production dataset.
StudyVisaHub is not a registered migration agent and does not provide immigration assistance. This article reports published Australian Government information and is general information only.