Glossary of terms

Testimonials

Ewan Metcalfe

Bachelor of Business (Sports Management)

"Through being at this college and the geographical location, it always reminded me to stay grounded, keep working hard to further improve my life and stay happy".

Julie Williams

Bachelor of Business (Fashion and Global Brand Management)

"I chose ICMS because they have provided me with the opportunity to kickstart my career through their many industry partners".

Keegan Du Preez

Bachelor of Business Management (Accounting)

"ICMS is realistic. They understand the realistic expectations of various markets. It’s not just textbook knowledge, especially compared to every other competitor".

Michaela Mayes

Bachelor of Business (Marketing)

"ICMS' Work Integrated Learning gave me the ability to gain real life experience before I even graduated".

Wiranpatchara (Sandy) Wongchanapai

Master of International Business

"Whilst studying at ICMS, I was able to have a strong work/study life balance".

Zachary Mcdonald

Bachelor of Business (Sports Management)

"I chose ICMS because of it's smaller community. There are more opportunities to have one-on-one contact with lecturers and a greater personalised learning experience than most higher education institutions".

Juliette Wilson

Bachelor of Business (Marketing)

"I think the biggest thing is that you get a personalised experience, and you’ll be treated like a person, not a number".


TERM	DEFINITION
Adjustment factors	Often referred to previously as “bonus points”, these are additional points that may be used in combination with an applicant’s Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) to derive a person’s course Selection Rank. Adjustments do not change applicants’ ATARs, but change their Selection Rank for a particular course or courses.
Admission Pathway	Any option available to prospective higher education students that will enable them to meet the entry requirements of their chosen courses.
Advanced standing	A form of credit for any previous learning (Australian Qualifications Framework definition) – see also the definitions for “credit transfer” and “recognition of prior learning”.
Applicant and prospective student	The term applicant and prospective students are used by tertiary admission centres and higher education institutions to describe people at different stages of their application processes. An applicant is generally taken to be a person who has already lodged an application to study a specific course. A prospective student is generally taken to be a person who is thinking about lodging an application to study a particular course but has not yet done so.
Articulation	A formal agreement which enables students to progress from a course at another institution to a course at the Institution with a specified amount of credit.
ATAR	The Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) is a ranking from 30 (lowest) to 99.95 (highest) agreed by COAG as a nationally equivalent measure of a person’s relative academic ranking within their complete age cohort in the year they graduated from senior secondary school. (This includes students who did not complete Year 12, completed but did not qualify for an ATAR, or had already previously left school, who account for around 30% of the age cohort.) The ATAR is derived from the scaled scores achieved for senior secondary school subjects. The specific calculation used is different in each state and territory but the result is designed to be nationally equivalent.
Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF)	The policy for regulated qualifications in the Australian education and training system.
Block credit	Credit granted for components or groups of subjects within a course as part of an articulation agreement or on an individual basis subject to satisfying AQF level criteria.
Bridging course	A course which assists students to gain knowledge in specialist areas that are a core component of the course. If a course requires a prerequisite in an area that students have not studied or worked with before, a bridging course will help students to bridge the gap in that knowledge and gain admission.
Cancellation of an offer	Cancellation of an offer is an institutional driven rescission of an existing offer prior to enrolment in the course concerned.
Cancellation of enrolment	Cancellation of enrolment is an institutional driven process to reverse the enrolment of a student who has commenced their course.
Census date	For domestic students, census date, is the official deadline for finalising enrolment for each teaching session. Once this date has passed, students are committed to the subjects they are enrolled in. This means that a student will be charged tuition fees and receive a grade for all enrolled subjects. If a student drops any subjects after this date they will still need to pay tuition fees and will receive a Fail Withdrawn (FW) grade.
Cognate course	A course of study that is closely related in content, discipline and/or field of study.
Course	Course is a course of study leading to an accredited or national training package qualification or statement of attainment.
Course transfer	Course transfer is a change of enrolled course at the institution. This can be initiated by the student or the institution.
Credit	The value assigned for the recognition of equivalence in content and learning outcomes between different types of learning and/or qualifications. Credit reduces the amount of learning required to achieve a qualification and may be through credit transfer, articulation, recognition of prior learning or advanced standing.
Credit transfer	A process that provides students with agreed and consistent credit outcomes for components of a qualification based on identified equivalence in content and learning outcomes between matched qualifications (Australian Qualifications Framework definition).
CRICOS	CRICOS is the Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students.
Cross insitutional study	Cross institutional study means a course of study comprising a subject (or subjects) which is being undertaken at the institution (the "host" higher education provider) as part of a course or an enabling course for which the student is enrolled at another Australian higher education provider (the "home" higher education provider). Incoming cross-institutional students are classified as non-award.
Deferral	Deferral is delayed commencement by an applicant who has received an offer of a place in a course of study.
DHA	DHA is the federal Department of Home Affairs.
Direct application	Application made to a higher education provider rather than through a tertiary admission centre.
Domestic student	Domestic student means Australian citizens, New Zealand citizens, or holders of an Australian permanent visa (holders of all categories of permanent resident visas including humanitarian visas).
Early offer	Where an offer of enrolment is made to a recent secondary school student prior to release of ATARs or equivalent (e.g. OP in Queensland, IB). Such offers are generally conditional on other requirements being met, such as successful completion of a Senior Secondary Certificate of Education or achievement of a specified minimum ATAR.
Enabling Course	A course designed to provide students with skills needed for success in further study, to assist in the transition to tertiary education – for example study techniques or English language skills. Successful completion helps prepare a person to be admitted to a course that leads to a higher education award.
ESOS Act	ESOS Act means the Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000. It sets out the legal framework governing delivery of education to international students in Australia on a student visa.
Exchange study	Exchange study means a course of study by an overseas student at the institution, or by an enrolled student at an overseas provider, which is covered by a formal agreement between the institution and the overseas higher education provider. Exchange agreements allow both types of students to pay for their study under whatever fee arrangement applies to them in their home country. See also “study abroad”.
Experience based entry	A selection method used by higher education providers to assess and select students who may not have educational qualifications sufficient for an offer of admission to a course but who have other relevant work and life skills and experience that make them a suitable candidate.
Formal learning	Formal learning is learning undertaken through a structured program of learning and assessment that leads to the full or partial attainment of a recognised Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) qualification.
High Academic Place (HAP)	A HAP is a subsidy available to new domestic undergraduate students that is awarded on the basis of ATAR. The subsidy means that a portion of tuition fees may be subsidised by ICMS.
Informal learning	Informal learning is learning gained through work-related, social, family, hobby or leisure activities and experiences. Unlike 'formal' and 'non-formal' learning, 'informal learning' is not organised or externally structured in terms of objectives, time or learning support.
Institution	Institution means all colleges related to The International College of Management Sydney ATF ICTHM Trust e.g. Aspire Institute, ISCA and The International College of Management Sydney.
International Student	International student means a student who is not a domestic student, and who may hold a student visa and is protected by the ESOS legislative framework.
Leave of Absence	Leave of absence is an approved period of time during which a current student is not enrolled in any subjects.
National Code	National Code means the National Code of Practice for Providers of Education and Training to Overseas Students 2018. It is a set of nationally consistent standards that governs the protection of international students and delivery of courses to those students by providers registered on CRICOS.
Non-Award	Non-award is the study of individual subjects not constituting a qualification.
Non-Award study	Non-award study refers to enrolment in a subject or subjects that don't count toward a degree program at ICMS.
Non-formal learning	Non-formal learning is learning that is undertaken through a structured program of learning but does not lead to a formally recognised qualification.
Offer round/s	Refers to the series of dates on which offers of higher education places are issued to applicants throughout the year, whether through a tertiary admission centre or directly by a higher education provider.
Principal course of study	Principal course of study is the highest qualification (normally the last course) covered by a student’s visa.
Provisional enrolment	Provisional enrolment is an enrolment that is subject to conditions agreed to by the institution and the student.
Recognition of prior learning (RPL)	A process used to assess an individual’s relevant prior learning (including formal, informal and non-formal learning) to determine the credit that may be granted towards completion of a qualification (adapted from Australian Qualifications Framework definition).
School recommendation	A recommendation from a school or other secondary education provider on the abilities of a student. Previously referred to by some as a principal’s recommendation.
Selection Rank	The ranking that tertiary admission centres and most universities actually use to assess admission to a course. A person’s course Selection Rank can include their ATAR, any adjustments they are eligible for, such as equity or subject adjustments, other contributions calculated on the basis of work experience or previous non-secondary study, portfolio assessments, results of the Special Tertiary Admissions Test, other supplementary tests, etc.
Specified credit	Specified credit is credit granted towards particular or specific components of a qualification or course of study.
SSVF	Streamlined Student Visa Framework (SSVF) is designed to make the process of applying for a student visa simpler to navigate for genuine students.
Student Profile Data	The Student Profile Data tables give an indication of the likely peer cohort for new students at the instution as a whole, and for each course. It provides data on all students who commenced undergraduate study in the most relevant recent intake period, including those admitted through all offer rounds, across all Australian campuses, and international students studying in Australia.
Study Abroad	Study abroad means a course of study wherein a student undertakes study with the institution that counts for credit towards a course that they are enrolled in with an overseas higher education provider. These students will pay fees (including tuition fees) set by the institution from time to time. See also “exchange study”.
Sudy period	Study period means a defined period of time during which a student is expected to commence and complete one subject or more. The duration of a study period may vary according to the course of study.
TAC application	Application made through a tertiary admission centre, namely QTAC, UAC, VTAC, SATAC, TISC and University of Tasmania, in relation to applications to study in that state.
Unspecified credit	Unspecified credit is granted towards elective components of a course, where an exact or near exact subject equivalence cannot be determined.
Withdrawal	Withdrawal means a student initiated permanent exit, or request to permanently exit, from an existing, or intended enrolment, into an award, or non-award course of study.

REF: Improving the transparency of higher education admissions: Joint higher education sector and Australian Government implementation plan, TEQSA 2018