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International Students

CIS welcomes international students to our programs and community of faith and learning. Please note, all students study face-to-face at our Strathfield campus and all international students must study full-time (100 credit points per semester; 200 credit points per academic year). Catholic Institute of Sydney (CIS) does not offer distance or online studies. International candidature is offered through our civil accreditation partner, University of Notre Dame Australia.

Steps to begin the application process include:

  • If an applicant has not completed secondary school or a bachelor’s degree in Australia (or Canada (in English), New Zealand, the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom, or the United States of America) an English language test is required. We require the IELTS academic test with results of 6.5 or higher in all bands (listening, reading, writing, speaking) for applicants to undergraduate programs, and results of 7.0 or higher in all bands for applicants to postgraduate programs. We will need a copy of your result certificate, more details on the test can be found here https://www.ielts.org/ or https://ielts.com.au/;
  • CIS needs to know the student’s canonical status, i.e., lay, clergy, religious (brother or sister).
    • Lay applicants with prior tertiary studies will require a letter of recommendation from their last place of study (Dean of Studies / Head of School / Rector etc.);
    • Applicants who are not lay will require a letter of recommendation/support from their ordinary/superior;
  • CIS requires copy of every applicant’s passport;
  • CIS requires certified copies of all tertiary level academic transcripts and testamurs / diplomas, or high school record if no tertiary awards have been completed. On some occasions, CIS will require transcripts to be sent directly to CIS from the relevant institution;
  • Documents not in English will need to be translated into English and signed by a certified translator; and,
  • Applicants will need to provide precise details of intended site of accommodation in Sydney while they study.

Once all the above steps are completed, please contact the Academic Dean at Catholic Institute of Sydney who will conduct an interview before assisting suitably qualified candidates with the University of Notre Dame Australia application process.