ENROLMENT OF STUDENTS LIVING OUTSIDE AUSTRALIA
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS
A student who is enrolled in Charles Sturt University in a course leading to accreditation as a teacher in New South
Wales should note the following extract from the Board of Studies, Teaching and Educational Standards (NSW)
BOSTES) policy on undertaking professional experience placements overseas.
Please note:

The following guidelines with regard to the completion of a final professional experience placement
within Australia apply only to those students wishing to teach in Australia following graduation. They
DO NOT apply to overseas students who intend to teach outside Australia after graduation.

It is the responsibility of the student to ensure that their application for a professional experience
placement meets the guidelines below and is consistent with their personal intentions regarding the
location of their teaching after graduation.
Teacher education students enrolled from within or outside Australia can choose to participate in professional
experience placements in educational settings in other countries. It is acknowledged that a professional experience
placement in a school overseas can provide a significant professional learning opportunity. These overseas
placements can provide cross-cultural understandings, knowledge of a different teaching contexts and exposure to
the cultural diversity of school students and how they learn.
CSU is willing to support a student undertaking a placement overseas and have it counted towards the minimum
professional experience requirements for program accreditation (i.e. 80 days in an undergraduate program or 60 days
in a graduate entry program). The following guiding principles apply:

An overseas placement can count towards the minimum required professional experience days but cannot be the
final professional experience placement in a program as the final placement must be in an Australian school.

The overseas placement will be part of a well-structured, well-designed professional experience program and is
more likely to occur in the early stages of an initial teacher education program.

At least 50 percent of the minimum professional experience requirements for program accreditation must
be in an Australian school setting, including the final professional experience placement.

The BOSTES Framework for High Quality Professional Experience in Schools and the Professional Experience –
Common Report Template contained in it, will provide the basis of assessment in the overseas professional
experience placement.

Supervising teachers in the overseas placement will be trained in the assessment of teacher education students
completing professional experience.
Providers may support students undertaking an overseas professional experience placement that does not address
the above guiding principles, but where this occurs, the placement can count for no more than 10% of the minimum
professional experience requirements in the initial teacher education program, which is consistent with the
professional experience policy provision of up to 10% of the minimum professional experience days in educational
settings other than schools.
EXEMPTION FROM PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Students who are currently teaching in overseas schools may be eligible for an exemption from the first professional
experience placement if they meet current CSU Guidelines and BOSTES policy regarding recognition of prior learning
through sustained employment. Students must be employed in a school where the medium of instruction is English
and must be teaching in a capacity that allows the student to demonstrate achievement of the Australian Professional
Standards for Teachers.
Secondary teachers:
Students in the Bachelor of Teaching/Master of Teaching (Secondary), Bachelor of Teaching (TAS) and Bachelor of
teaching (Secondary) – Industry Entry and Bachelor of Educational Studies may apply for an exemption from the
initial teacher professional experience placement (EPT441 or EPT241/329) if they fulfil the following conditions:
1. Students must be employed as a full-time teacher in their curriculum area in a secondary school for at least
one term during the past four years (duration and currency).
2. During this period, students must have taught across Years 7-12 with an 80% teaching load in their
curriculum teaching area (scope).
3. Once eligibility is established in relation to the scope, duration and currency of teaching, the student’s
principal will be asked to provide a report on the student’s teaching capability, using the BOSTES common
report template adapted to encompass the requirements of an exemption rather than a professional
experience placement.
Primary Teachers:
Students in the Bachelor of Teaching/Master of Teaching (Primary) may apply for an exemption from the initial
teacher professional experience placement (EPT432) if they fulfil the following conditions:
1. Students must be employed as a full-time class-based primary teacher, teaching all key learning areas in the
primary curriculum for at least one term during the past four years (scope, duration and currency).
2. Once eligibility is established in relation to the scope, duration and currency of teaching, the student’s
principal will be asked to provide a report on the student’s teaching competency, using the BOSTES common
report template adapted to encompass the requirements of an exemption rather than a professional
experience placement.
Students who are currently teaching overseas and who wish to be considered for exemption from their final
professional experience placement and who hold Conditional in NSW should contact the Professional Experience Unit
([email protected]). Students with Conditional Accreditation who are seeking exemption from the final professional
experience placement and who wish to return to Australia to teach after graduation will be required to complete a
placement of at least three weeks in an Australian School.
Students who hold Proficient Accreditation in NSW and who are currently teaching overseas but wish to return to
Australia to teach after graduation and who wish to be considered for exemption from their final professional
experience placement must demonstrate that either the first or final placement/teaching experience has been
completed in an Australian school.