Contents
The Country Education Profiles (CEPs) are a guide to the education systems of over 109 countries and their comparability with Australian qualifications. CEPs contain information about the structure and qualifications of all sectors of a country’s education system, key points of comparison used by AEI-NOOSR for assessment purposes i.e. quality indicators, and assessment guidelines for comparing qualifications from the overseas country with qualifications on the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF).
The CEPs are used to inform decisions for a wide variety of purposes including:
- admission to an educational institution such as a university;
- employment;
- migration; and
- registration with a professional or regulatory body.
CEPs are widely used by education institutions, professional bodies, government departments, state and territory Overseas Qualifications Units (OQUs), migration agents, employers, and individuals both in Australia and overseas.
The information provided is generally structured around three main sections.
- Assessment Guidelines:
- What our assessment guidelines mean (contains information that you need to know before using the assessment guidelines)
- Assessment guidelines by sector and their respective institution list;
- Quality indicators
- List of institutions:
- Consolidated list of recognised institutions for the CEP
- Links to the relevant assessment guidelines page
- Where applicable, list to or lists of institutional directories
- Education system:
- Description of the education system by sector, including:
- Admission requirements
- Courses and qualifications
- Types of institutions
- Diagram of education system
- Grading systems
- Teacher education
CEP Online is designed for Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher at 1024 x 768 (images and scripting enabled). Future versions will be cross platform and compatible with all modern browsers.
When you log in to CEP Online, you will arrive on the CEP Online Home page. The CEP Online Home Page provides the link to all available CEPs. This page can be accessed from any page in a CEP via the CEP Online Home button, which is located on the left-hand side of the horizontal red bar.
Note, the login status is on the top right-hand side of the page.
CEPs on the CEP Online Home page are divided into five regional groups:
- Asia-Pacific
- Europe
- Subcontinent and the Middle East
- The Americas
- Africa
A link to an alphabetised list by country is also provided for your convenience.
On the right-hand side of the page are 2 tables:
This table lists CEPs that have been recently updated.
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CEPS with recently updated sections
This table lists CEPs with new information.
When you select a country or CEP from the CEP Online Home page, you will arrive at the country's home page:
You are presented with the main links or sections of the CEP such as:
- Assessment guidelines
- List of institutions
- Education system
- Glossary
- Site map
Below the main links you'll find a Search tool and the Recent Changes table which alerts you to the sections of the CEP that have been updated.
Information in CEP Online is divided into user friendly sections, allowing information to be easily found. You can find your way around or navigate using two navigation bars or menus:
Represents your current location within the CEP Online information structure. Underlined sections are linked to their relevant pages.
Represents the main sections of the CEP.
Using combinations of these menus will be the main method that you use to navigate the site.
The CEP Online Home button will take you back to the CEP Online Home page.
List of Institutions
- Located in the Side Menu.
- The list of institutions are in alphabetical order sorted by current name. 'Also known as', 'Formerly known as' names and any relevant comments are also listed on this page.
- Located above the list is an alphabetical navigation aid. Click on the letter to jump to the institution list grouped under that letter. Click "Back to Top" to return to the top of the list.
- The relevant Assessment guidelines are provided as links for a given institution.
Note that a very small number of CEPs do not contain a list of institutions. You may be referred to useful official directories or "Other important organisations" in the CEP.
The assessment guidelines will help you compare overseas educational qualifications with qualifications on the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) and where relevant, lists the institutions on the same page.
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The Glossary is located on the Side Menu and contains a list of useful educational terms and acronyms and their definitions. Depending on the CEP, this page may also contain a list of useful foreign language words.
The Site Map is located on the Side Menu in each CEP. This page shows the main CEP sections and further sub-section grouping of information contained in a CEP at a glance.
The Search tool is usually just below the Side menu.
The table below contains advice on how to best use the Search tool.
Search Methods
|
Type of Search |
Description |
Method |
|
Keyword |
- Search for a word or general topic
- The search is able to locate results in both English and languages other than English (if these characters have been used in the CEP), provided that your computer has non-English language capability.
|
- Enter a word (or words) into the search box then click “Go”.
- For an exact match search, enter the term in quotation marks eg. “Universidade de Brasilia”
|
|
Narrowing the Search |
By default, any search will look in the entire CEP. Use this dropdown to narrow your search to only include results from a certain section of the CEP. |
Use the dropdown box under the search
to select the section you want to search in then click "Go". Your options are:
- Entire CEP
- Assessment Guidelines
- List of Institutions
- Education System
- Glossary
|
|
Using standard browser tools |
There are standard browser tools that you can use to search for text contained in a page. |
Click on Edit then Find in your Internet Explorer toolbar or press “Ctrl + F” and enter the key word(s) into the dialogue box. |
Search Results
- The Search tool will look for results within the CEP that you are in.
- The results will display the first 250 characters of the page upon which your search term was located, in the format below.
- A link or URL is provided under each search result to take you to the relevant page in the site.
- The search engine automatically includes variations of words based upon the base stem, such as plurals. For example, searching for the word “page” also returns results for “pages.”
- The search engine automatically ignores common words such as “the,” “it,” and “by” as well as single-digit numbers.
- The search engine is not case or format sensitive.
If more that one search word is entered, then pages which contain all the search words will returned at the top of the results list.
For example: a search for Assessment Guidelines would return to the top of search results list all pages that contain the words Assessment and Guidelines, followed by pages which contain the word Assessment and then pages which contain the word Guidelines.
The Header is located on the top right hand side of the screen. Here you will find links to:
- AEI-NOOSR contacts
- AEI home
- AEI search (searches content in the AEI website)
- My account
- Logout
“My account” is where you can administer your CEP subscription and, as a CEP administrator for your organisation grant access to other users. The Header will either read “Logged in as [your name]” or “Not logged in”. To log in or out, use the login or log out menu item at the far right-hand side of the header.
The footer is located at the bottom of every page. Footer information includes:
- Sources - a list of references used to develop CEPs and may include a list of web links;
- a link to a website feedback form, and website disclaimer;
- copyright and privacy information as well as links to AEI home;
- AEI links; and
- a general AEI feedback form.
You can bookmark CEP Online pages the same way as for any internet page. If you’re using Internet Explorer*, you can press “Ctrl + D” or from your browser’s toolbar select Favourites > Add to Favourites. To recall a favourite page, from your browser’s toolbar, drop down the Favourites menu and select the page you want from the list.
If you’re logged out of the CEP Online system, when you select your page from the Favourites menu you’ll be sent first to a login screen. Enter your details and you’ll then be sent to the page you selected.
* If you’re not using Internet Explorer and are unsure as to how to add or recall a page using your favourites or bookmarks list, please see your browser’s help menu.
AEI-NOOSR does not recommend that you print and keep pages from CEP Online. The information on the site is updated regularly and as such it cannot be guaranteed that printed pages will contain up-to-date information.
1. How do I find an institution in CEP Online?
If the institution is listed in the CEP, you can:
- Select the List of Institutions on the Side Menu; or
- Enter the name of the institution in the Search tool and narrow the search in the drop down box to List of Institutions.
- Browse the assessment guidelines sections. The institutions for that section are listed just after the guidelines.
Note that a small number of CEPs do not contain lists of institutions.
2. If an institution is not listed, why is this and what can I do?
If an institution is not listed, this may mean several things e.g. the institution is very new, the institution is very old, the institution is not authorised to award qualifications (in which case AEI-NOOSR would decline to assess the qualification), or, that it is not feasible for AEI-NOOSR to list all institutions for a given CEP, usually due to the very large number of institutions. In the latter case, the user is usually directed to an official website or directory.
If the institution is not listed in CEP Online you can further inspect the award documentation. The CEP will usually comment on ‘accreditation’ or ‘recognition’ to assist you to do this. You may also need to conduct further research.
3. How can I find out how my award/qualification is assessed in CEP Online?
There are a number of ways to find how an award is assessed in CEPs Online. To find the assessment guideline for a particular award such as a Bachelor degree you can:
- Enter the institution (or qualification) in the Search tool; or
- Click on List of institutions on the Side Menu. If your institution is listed on this page, a link will be provided to the relevant assessment guidelines section; or
- Click on Assessment Guidelines on the Side Menu in the relevant CEP. Determine which education sector the qualification belongs to eg. Higher Education, Technical and Vocational Education etc. and browse through the Sections.
4. Is this institution accredited or recognised?
Institutions listed in CEP Online are authorised to award qualifications by the educational authorities of the country concerned (note that ‘accredited’ or ‘recognised’ can have different meanings). CEP Online can assist you to identify whether an award was made by an ‘accredited’ or ‘recognised’ institution.
5. The institution is listed but the qualification is not, how is this qualification assessed?
In this instance, the Assessment Guidelines, Quality Indicators and Education System sections of CEP Online can provide guidance as to where a particular qualification might “fit” in a given country’s education system or framework. Qualifications would be assessed by AEI-NOOSR on a case-by-case basis. To apply for a formal educational assessment with AEI-NOOSR, go to the AEI Online website.
6. If my qualification is listed, is there additional information about this qualification?
- Further information about qualifications may be found in the Education System section on the Side Menu. Then click on the relevant sector on the main page eg. Higher Education. Information on particular qualifications may be found under Courses and Qualifications.
- You can also enter the qualification in the Search tool then narrow the search using the drop down box under the search field to Education System.
7. How is my secondary school certificate assessed? Where can I find more information about secondary education?
Secondary school qualifications are assessed by the relevant State or Territory Education Authority. Some CEPs Online provide guidance on the comparability of secondary school qualifications in the Assessment Guidelines section on the Side Menu under Secondary School Education. Further information on secondary education may also be found in the Education System section on the Side Menu under School Education and then click on Secondary.
8. What qualifications does AEI-NOOSR assess?
A qualification must have been awarded after a formal program of study, by an institution authorised to award the qualification by the educational authorities of the country concerned. The qualifications AEI-NOOSR assesses include:
- Higher education qualifications at sub-degree, degree and postgraduate levels
- Post-secondary qualifications
- Technical and vocational qualifications (including some at secondary level)
- Qualifications awarded by professional bodies outside Australia where the level of membership, or the qualification awarded, is based on completion of an education al program and examinations of the professional body.
This information is contained in What our assessment guidelines mean in the Assessment guidelines section.
9. What qualifications does AEI-NOOSR not assess?
AEI-NOOSR does not assess:
- Qualifications awarded by institutions not authorised to award the qualifications by the educational authorities of the country concerned
- Incomplete studies that did not lead to the awarding of a formal qualifications
- Trade qualifications
- Qualifications which took less than one semester (or six months) of full-time study to complete of the part-time equivalent
- Single-subject certificates such as word-processing, typing, language or in-service courses
- General or academic secondary school qualifications
- Work experience
- Australian qualifications
This information is contained in What our assessment guidelines mean in the Assessment guidelines section.
10. How do I know what CEP sections have been updated and when?
When you select a country or CEP from the CEP Online Home page, you will arrive at the country front page which also contains a 'Recent changes' table, alerting you to the most recent updates made to the CEP.
11. There is no CEP for my country, what should I do?
If there is no CEP available, you can conduct independent research and consult other information sources eg. Internet search, official directories, or make you own enquiries eg. ask the awarding body. You can also, depending on your purpose, apply for a formal AEI-NOOSR educational assessment or contact AEI-NOOSR for advice.