Australia

• The entry rule is a number you can look up. UAC converts your IB score into a Combined Rank comparable with the ATAR, the conversion is national, and universities publish the rank each degree needs.
• Three-year bachelor's degrees, so you finish in the same time as in Denmark, and four-year honours only if you choose it.
• A degree gives access to the Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485), Post-Higher Education Work stream, which usually lasts two to three years.
• You can work up to 48 hours a fortnight while your course is in session, and full-time during breaks.
• The gap between your May 2027 exams and a February 2028 start is long enough for a real job, a language course or travel - which some students want and others hate.
• If you are looking at Sydney or Canberra, an IB Diploma puts you inside UAC - one application, one fee, several universities - and UAC is open to a candidate sitting the exams in Europe; the Victorian, South Australian and Western Australian centres are not.

• Hemisphere timing. If you start in February 2028 you are effectively taking a gap year. If you find a July 2027 mid-year intake you start almost straight after your exams - but not every degree has one, and engineering and health degrees often do not.
• There are two IB conversion tables on UAC's page and the wrong one is the one that looks more precise. The quarter-point IB Admissions Score schedule is only for candidates who sat the IB in Australia. Yours is the whole-number one.
• There is no national application portal. New South Wales and the ACT have UAC and will take you; Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia have admissions centres that will not, because their IB route is restricted to candidates sitting the exams in Australia or to residents. Queensland is unresolved. Elsewhere you apply to each university separately.
• Cost. International tuition at a research university runs roughly AUD 47,000-57,000 a year for arts and business and considerably more for medicine and veterinary science, and the visa's financial test asks for your actual first-year fee rather than an average.
• The student visa is expensive and getting more so: the subclass 500 application charge is from AUD 2,500 as of September 2026, and on top of it you must show AUD 29,710 of living costs for twelve months, the first year of tuition and about AUD 2,000 of travel.
• Distance. A return flight to Denmark takes about 24 hours and costs real money; most students fly back once a year at most.

Accepted

Yes

Minimum

There is no national minimum. Entry is decided by a rank, and UAC's published schedule is what turns your IB total into one: for offers made from August 2026, 24 points converts to a Combined Rank of 64.60, 30 to 79.30, 35 to 90.75, 40 to 96.85 and 45 to 99.95. Degrees then state the rank they require, so a course asking for a rank of 90 is asking for roughly IB 34-35. Use the whole table on the destination record rather than these five rows.

Subjects and levels

Entry is on the overall converted rank, with named prerequisite subjects on top - typically Mathematics at a specified level for engineering, economics and science, and Chemistry or Biology for health degrees. Whether an SL subject satisfies a prerequisite is decided by the university.

Score conversion

UAC converts an IB Diploma into a Combined Rank, which it states is comparable with the ATAR for tertiary entrance in every Australian state and territory. There are two schedules on one page and they give different answers. Candidates who sat the IB in Australia from November 2022 are converted from a fine-grained IB Admissions Score in quarter-point steps; everyone else, including anyone sitting the May session in Denmark, is converted from the whole diploma score out of 45. The schedule underneath both is agreed nationally by the Australasian Conference of Tertiary Admissions Centres and re-determined every February.

• Read the right table. The IBAS schedule is the more precise-looking one and it is not yours: it converts 24.00 to 64.40 where the table that applies to a candidate sitting the IB in Denmark converts 24 to 64.60, and the gap widens in the thirties.
• Because you are converted from a whole number, every single point is a step. There is no partial credit for being high within a grade band, which is precisely what the Australian-sat IBAS schedule exists to give.
• The Combined Rank travels even though the application does not. UAC only runs admissions for New South Wales and the ACT, but the conversion is national, so a rank quoted by a university in Perth means the same thing.
• The schedule is republished annually and the values move. A table on a coaching site, or one remembered from a sibling's year, is the wrong table by definition.
• Named prerequisite subjects sit on top of the rank - typically mathematics at a specified level for engineering, economics and science, and chemistry or biology for health degrees. Whether an SL subject satisfies a prerequisite is decided by the university, not by UAC.

1. Decide first whether you want July 2027 or February 2028, then check whether the specific degree has a mid-year intake - this single choice changes your whole timeline, and engineering, health and most professional degrees are semester 1 only.

2. Convert your predicted IB total to a Combined Rank on UAC's current schedule, then look up the rank each degree requires. Some universities publish a guaranteed-entry rank, which turns the question into arithmetic.

3. Work out which route your state uses. For New South Wales and the ACT you may apply through UAC on one application and one fee; for Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia the state admissions centre will not take an IB candidate sitting the exams in Denmark, and Queensland's is unresolved, so you apply directly to each university.

4. Ask your school's IB Diploma coordinator to authorise the IB to release your results - to UAC if you are using it, and to each university if you are not. Your school does this, not you.

5. Submit predicted IB grades. Through UAC an international applicant receives a conditional offer about 48 hours later, which can be used for pre-visa assessment but not to enrol.

6. Accept the offer, pay the deposit, and take out Overseas Student Health Cover - it is a visa condition, not a university one.

7. Receive the Confirmation of Enrolment, then apply online for the Student visa subclass 500, paying from AUD 2,500 and showing AUD 29,710 of living costs, the first twelve months of tuition and about AUD 2,000 of travel.

8. Book accommodation - Australian universities house a much smaller share of students than British or American ones, and Sydney and Melbourne rentals are tight.

Entry is overwhelmingly rank-based against a published threshold, plus subject prerequisites. A few degrees add an interview, portfolio or admissions test - medicine and dentistry in particular. Some universities publish guaranteed-entry ranks, which means an offer is automatic if you meet the number. There is no personal statement culture and no essay for most degrees. Whether a conditional offer on predicted grades is normal for a direct application, as it is through UAC, is worth asking each university about.

English-taught bachelors

The whole system. Every bachelor's degree here is taught in English.

Proving your English

Universities accept the IB Diploma with English A as evidence of English for most courses, and the subclass 500 visa also has its own English requirement. Exact IELTS and TOEFL thresholds vary by university and by course - typical minimums are IELTS 6.5 overall with no band below 6.0.

Local language needed?

Not for English-taught programmes

• The visa English requirement and the university English requirement are separate. Meeting the university's does not automatically satisfy Home Affairs - check the subclass 500 English criteria.

Tuition, EU/EEA

Not applicable - Australia has no EU/EEA fee category, and Commonwealth Supported Places are for Australian and New Zealand citizens only. You pay full international fees. (2026)

Tuition, non-EU

Roughly AUD 47,000-57,000 a year at a major research university for arts, design and business, with medicine, dentistry and veterinary science substantially higher. Example: UNSW Sydney's 2026 international rates are AUD 985 per unit of credit for Arts, AUD 1,000 for Design, AUD 1,090 for Architecture and AUD 1,180 for Accounting and Actuarial Studies, and a standard full-time year is 48 units of credit - so about AUD 47,300 for Arts and AUD 56,600 for Business. (2026)

Application fee

Most Australian universities charge either no application fee or AUD 100-150 for international direct applications. State admissions centres (UAC, VTAC, QTAC, SATAC) charge their own processing fees. Check each university's own fee.

Living costs

The Department of Home Affairs requires evidence of AUD 29,710 in living costs for twelve months for a single student - about AUD 2,476 a month. Home Affairs states plainly that this is the visa minimum and that actual living costs vary across Australia and may be much higher. (2026)

• The AUD 29,710 is living costs only. On top you must show the first twelve months of course fees and about AUD 2,000 for travel to and from Australia if you are applying from Europe.
• As an alternative to savings you may instead show that a parent or partner had a personal annual income of at least AUD 87,856 in the twelve months before you apply, evidenced by official tax documents - bank statements are not accepted.
• Student visa subclass 500 application charge: from AUD 2,500 as of September 2026.
• Overseas Student Health Cover is compulsory for the full length of the visa and is charged separately by the insurer.
• Universities also charge a Student Services and Amenities Fee on top of tuition.
• Not established: whether tuition can rise between years of the same degree, and by how much. Ask in writing before you accept.

Funding you could actually get

• University international scholarships. Most Australian universities publish entrance scholarships for international undergraduates, usually a percentage discount on tuition (often 10-25%) awarded automatically on your admission score or by separate application. Amounts vary - check each university's scholarship page when you apply.
• Destination Australia and similar government-funded schemes support study at regional campuses; these are aimed at moving students outside Sydney and Melbourne and can be substantial.
• Faculty-specific awards, particularly in engineering and science, awarded after first year on results.
• Part-time work. The visa allows up to 48 hours a fortnight during teaching periods and unrestricted hours in scheduled breaks, and Australian minimum wages are high by European standards - but you cannot count on work income for the visa financial test, which explicitly requires you to show funds without relying on employment in Australia.
• Danish SU can follow you here if you can claim it (Danish citizens, or EU/EEA citizens with equal status under EU rules) and meet the ties-to-Denmark requirement. A full degree outside the EU/EEA follows separate rules, with its own ties-to-Denmark form: check su.dk before budgeting. If you cannot claim SU, look first at your own country's student finance: several EU/EEA systems fund a full degree in another country.
• There is no Australian government loan scheme for international undergraduates.

Residency

You need a Student visa, subclass 500. Apply online after the university issues a Confirmation of Enrolment, and you must still hold a valid CoE when the visa is decided. Requirements include Overseas Student Health Cover, the genuine student criterion, health and character checks, and the financial evidence above. The visa allows a stay of up to six years in line with your enrolment, and the application charge is from AUD 2,500. Student visa applications lodged outside Australia are processed under a Ministerial Direction - Direction 115 for applications lodged on or after 14 November 2025 - which prioritises some applications over others, so processing time is not simply first-come-first-served. Source: https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-listing/student-500

Working

On a Student visa subclass 500 you may work up to 48 hours per fortnight while your course of study or training is in session, and without limit during scheduled course breaks. After you graduate, the Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485), Post-Higher Education Work stream, is for international students with a recent degree from an Australian institution and usually allows a stay of between two and three years depending on the qualification. You must be 35 or under when you apply, and you must have held a Student visa within the previous six months. Sources: https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-listing/student-500 and https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-listing/temporary-graduate-485

Housing

Australian universities house a much smaller share of students than American or British ones, so most international students rent privately or take a place in a purpose-built student accommodation block. Sydney and Melbourne are expensive and competitive; Adelaide, Hobart, Wollongong and Canberra are easier. Apply for university residential colleges as soon as you accept an offer, and budget well above the AUD 29,710 visa minimum if you want to live in inner Sydney.

Healthcare

Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC) is a condition of the subclass 500 visa and must cover the whole length of the visa. You buy it from an approved Australian insurer, usually through the university at the point of accepting your offer. The EHIC is not valid in Australia. If you are a Norwegian or Swedish citizen covered by your own country's scheme, you may be exempt from OSHC under special arrangements: check with the Department of Home Affairs before you buy it. Denmark has no such arrangement.