Eligibility and applying

Applications for Round 2 opened at 9:00am AEDT on Monday 25 November 2024.

Applications will close 5:00pm AEDT on Monday 13 January 2025. Late applications will not be accepted.

On this page:

Are you eligible?

You can apply for a Commonwealth Teaching Scholarship if you are living in Australia, and are:

  • an Australian citizen
  • a permanent resident
  • a holder of a permanent humanitarian visa, or
  • a New Zealand citizen.

Additionally, you must: 

  • be commencing an Australian accredited teaching degree
  • be starting your degree in the first semester or first study period of 2025
  • study full-time for the duration of your scholarship funding (determined by the length of your degree)
  • be willing to commit to teach in a government school or government-run early learning setting in Australia after you graduate.

Please ensure you meet the above eligibility requirements before applying

You cannot apply for a scholarship if you:

  • want to study part-time at any stage of your degree
  • want to begin your degree mid-year or intend to defer the start of your teaching degree
  • are enrolling in a degree that is not an accredited teaching degree 
  • are currently partway through an accredited teaching degree
  • are living or intending to study overseas
  • have withdrawn from an accredited teaching degree between January 2023 and now
  • have already completed an accredited teaching degree.

You can apply for a scholarship before you enrol in an accredited teaching degree. If you receive a Conditional Offer, you will be asked to provide official evidence of your full-time enrolment in an accredited teaching degree, starting in the first semester or study period of 2025. 

Applicants are not guaranteed a scholarship and should not rely on receiving a scholarship when making decisions about their studies.

For more details on the eligibility requirements, please read the Round 2 Scholarship Guidelines.

Want to apply

To apply for a scholarship in Round 2 you will need to:

  • Check your eligibility
  • Fill out an application form
  • Upload official results of your prior academic achievement
  • Double check your responses
  • Submit your form

There is no advantage to applying early, all applications will be assessed after applications close. Make sure you understand all the scholarship requirements and have the required evidence before you apply.

For those finishing Year 12, you must wait until you have your official ATAR/IB results before you apply. 
 

You will need to provide one of the following official documents:

  • an Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) statement
  • an International Baccalaureate (IB) result
  • a Queensland Overall Position (OP)
  • a pre-ATAR statement (e.g. Tertiary Entrance Rank (TER), Universities Admission Index (UAI), Equivalent National Tertiary Entrance Rank (ENTER)
  • a Skills for Tertiary Admissions Test (STAT) statement (formerly known as the (Special Tertiary Admissions Test)
  • a Vocational Education and Training (VET) competency transcript (e.g. diploma results)
  • an academic transcript for a completed degree that includes an overall Grade Point Average (GPA) or Weighted Average Mark (WAM)
  • an academic transcript from an international school or education institution that includes an overall score/grade
  • an academic transcript from a partially completed degree (only for applicants who are transferring from a non-accredited teaching degree) 

If you have an academic transcript for a completed degree that does not contain an overall GPA or WAM, we encourage you to contact the higher education provider that awarded your degree to ask for an official document that includes one of these grades, before you apply. 

If you cannot provide an academic transcript that contains an overall GPA or WAM, you must provide an academic transcript that contains numeric or lettered grades so that an overall score can be calculated on your behalf.

You will need to provide one of the following official documents:

  • an academic transcript from your most recently completed Bachelor, Graduate Certificate, Graduate Diploma, or Masters degree that includes an overall Grade Point Average (GPA) or Weighted Average Mark (WAM)
  • an official academic transcript from an international higher education institution that includes an overall score/grade

If you have an academic transcript that does not contain an overall GPA or WAM, we encourage you to contact the higher education provider that awarded your qualification to ask for an official document that includes one of these grades, before you apply. 

If you cannot provide an academic transcript that contains an overall GPA or WAM, you must provide an academic transcript that contains numeric or lettered grades so that an overall score can be calculated on your behalf.

The Program aims to attract high-achieving candidates from a diverse range of backgrounds to the teaching profession. To achieve this, priority will be given to applicants who indicate they are a member of one or more of the following cohorts: 

  • high-achieving students with an ATAR of 80 or more or equivalent (undergraduate applicants only)
  • mid-career professionals
  • First Nations peoples
  • people from a rural, regional or remote area
  • people with disability
  • people from a low socio-economic background
  • people for whom English is an additional language or dialect

Scholarships will be awarded based on prior academic achievement with priority given to applicants who have identified as belonging to one or more of the target cohorts until all funding is exhausted. 

You can still apply for a scholarship if you do not identify with a target cohort.

Application forms

Undergraduate application form

Postgraduate application form

Application process

To be considered eligible for a Commonwealth Teaching Scholarship, you must complete an online scholarship application form and provide all requested supporting academic evidence. 

Academic evidence submitted must include: 

  • your full legal name
  • official branding that clearly identifies the issuer/education provider
  • date awarded or issued
  • an overall academic result. 

Eligibility checks may commence prior to the closing date. 

If your application is incomplete and you provide incorrect academic evidence, it will be deemed ineligible and will not move to the assessment stage.

If your application is eligible, your prior academic evidence will be assessed.

If the number of eligible applications exceeds the amount of funds available, then eligible applications will be ranked based on the applicant’s level of academic achievement and whether the applicant is in one or more of the target cohorts.

Note: Eligible applicants are not guaranteed a scholarship. 

You will be advised via email of the outcome of your application following the assessment process. The assessment process may take some time, so please be patient. 

If your application is successful, you may receive a Conditional Offer. 

To accept your Conditional Offer, you must provide the following evidence:

Proof of full-time enrolment

  • an official academic statement, or letter of enrolment, from your higher education provider confirming you are commencing in the first semester or study period of 2025 with a full-time study load

Your official academic evidence must contain your full name (as stated on your citizenship evidence), name of higher education provider, name of accredited teaching degree, equivalent full-time study load (EFTSL), commencement date, and expected completion date.

Proof of Citizenship

  • a certified copy of your birth certificate; or
  • a certified copy of your passport*; or
  • a certified copy of your Australian Citizenship Certificate; or
  • a certified copy of your VEVO/Visa documents

Additionally, you may be required to provide:

  • a certified copy of your change of name certificate
  • a certified copy of your marriage certificate

*Please note expired passports are not accepted as proof of citizenship

A certified copy is a copy (often a photocopy) of a primary document that has on it an endorsement or certificate that it is a true copy of the primary document. It is usual for documents to be certified by a person who is authorised as a witness for statutory declarations under Statutory Declarations Regulations 2018 – Schedule 1. This schedule provides a wide range of authorised occupations and office holders who may certify a document. Finding a suitable person should not normally present a significant difficulty.

You need to ensure your documents have been certified by an authorised individual within the last six months.

Your Conditional Offer may be withdrawn if you do not provide the correct evidence set out above.

If you provide all the required evidence and accept your Conditional Offer, you will be given a Formal Offer and Scholarship Agreement to sign. The Scholarship Agreement is a legal contract between you and the Australian Government.

A sample Scholarship Agreement is on the Resources page.

The Scholarship Agreement will include:

  • The maximum scholarship amount to be paid and the payment schedule.
  • The timeframe over which it is to be paid, reflecting program type (i.e. undergraduate or postgraduate)
  • The Scholarship requirements, including the commitment to teach requirements
  • Recipient reporting obligations
  • Arrangements for repayment of scholarship funding (if applicable)

If you do not adhere to the legal requirements set out in your Scholarship Agreement, your scholarship may be withdrawn, and you may be required to repay any scholarship funding you receive. 

For more information, check out the FAQs and Resources pages.