In 2008/2009, the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) funded a project to develop a set of Good Practice Principles for English language proficiency for international students in Australian universities (GPP). This project's focus was international students studying in Australian universities.

The project was undertaken by a steering committee convened by the Australian Universities Quality Agency (AUQA). The project was a quality enhancement activity for the Australian university sector and reflected extensive work being undertaken in many Australian universities. It built on the outcomes of a 2007 National Symposium commissioned by the Department of Education, Science and Training.

Following extensive consultations with the Australian higher education sector, the DEEWR reconvened the Good Practice Principles steering committee in 2010 (p. 12) and asked it to develop the principles into English standards that would apply to all students in the Australian Higher Education sector. The draft standards were submitted to the DEEWR in July 2010.

This document is the outcome of the work of the reconvened steering committee.

The inclusion of the English language standards for Higher Education (ELSHE) in a global standards framework is essential in the current context of developing a national framework for academic standards that would assist the higher education sector in setting up quality systems, in particular, to respond to recent government regulations and initiatives, such as the Knight recommendations and the Bradley Social Inclusion agenda.

Alex Barthel

Member, ELSHE Steering Committee

Public Officer, Association for Academic Language & Learning

May 2012

final version 5 JULY 2010

English Language Standards for Higher Education

Introduction

The project

This document provides standards for successful academic study in English in Australian higher education. The standards apply to all higher education providers operating in Australia.

This project was undertaken by a Steering Committee convened by the Australian Universities

Quality Agency (AUQA). Appendix B1 lists members of the Steering Committee.

How should these standards be used?

In the first instance, the standards provide a set of external reference points for higher education providers. The standards are general statements for individual higher education providers to address in the context of their own operations and environment. The standards do not require and are not intended to produce a standardisation of approaches among providers. They are broad enough to allow for institutions to respond in ways appropriate to their particular situation.