Direct Entry Course
Gain entry to your degree at the University of Sydney and build peer networks through our Direct Entry Course.
Alison's experience
"During the DEC course I applied to be a CET Student Leader. This experience actually inspired me to be a volunteer overseas. I built houses and taught English to students in the second poorest village in Sri Lanka. I am really proud of myself after that experience."
- English language and academic skills through units of study based on discipline-specific themes and genre based assessments
- Academic digital literacy skills through collaborative project-based research assignments
- Study skills by using reflective practice
- Develop your academic style, academic vocabulary and essay writing, report writing and case study skills as well as academic discussion skills
- Develop critical thinking, problem solving and multimedia presentation skills through collaborative projects
- Improve your individual language learning needs through online self-study resources
Students will study for 36, 25, 15, 10 or 5 teaching weeks.
All courses involve 20 hours of classes per week.
Course length depends on the gap between your current IELTS score and the English requirement of your degree course.
You can use the table below to calculate the duration that suits you. Before using the tables ensure you know:
- your current and most recent English test score
- what University course you want to study
- the English test score required for that course, i.e. your target score.
Students with IELTS test results
| Current IELTS (vertical) & Target IELTS (horizontal) | 6 | 6.5 | 7 | 7.5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | DEC 36 | |||
| 5.5 | DEC 15 or 10 | DEC 25 | DEC 36 | |
| 6 | DEC 5 | DEC 15 or 10 | DEC 25 | DEC 36 |
| 6.5 | DEC 5 | DEC 5 | DEC 15 or 10 | DEC 25 |
| 7 | DEC 5 | DEC 5 | DEC 15 or 10 | |
| 7.5 | DEC 5 | DEC 5 |
You cannot study a DEC that does not match up to your current and target overall scores as shown in the table above.
Students with other test results
Check the test concordance table (pdf, 139KB) for the IELTS score that matches your English language score.
Then use the table above to find the DEC duration that suits your needs.
DEC 36 (36 teaching weeks)
| Start date | End date | CET payment deadline |
|---|---|---|
| 22 April 2025 | 23 January 2026 | 07 March 2025 |
| 22 September 2025 | 26 June 2026 | 15 August 2025 |
DEC 25 (25 teaching weeks)
| Start date | End date | CET payment deadline |
|---|---|---|
| 9 December 2024 | 27 June 2025 | 1 November 2024 |
| 7 July 2025 | 23 January 2026 | 30 May 2025 |
| 8 December 2025 | 26 June 2026 | 31 October 2025 |
DEC 15 (15 teaching weeks)
| Start date | End date | CET payment deadline |
|---|---|---|
| 10 March 2025 | 27 June 2025 | 31 January 2025 |
| 22 September 2025 | 23 January 2026 | 15 August 2025 |
DEC 10 (10 teaching weeks)
| Start date | End date | CET payment deadline |
|---|---|---|
| 28 October 2024 | 24 January 2025 | 20 September 2024 |
| 22 April 2025 | 27 June 2025 | 07 March 2025 |
| 27 October 2025 | 23 January 2026 | 26 September 2025 |
DEC 5 (5 teaching weeks)
| Start date | End date | CET payment deadline | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 December 2024 | 24 January 2025 | 1 November 2024 | |||
| 26 May 2025 | 27 June 2025 | 18 April 2025 | |||
| 8 December 2025 | 23 January 2026 | 31 October 2025 |
Our learning support program enables you to further strengthen your skills throughout the course and for university.
Learning support we offer our students are:
- individual progress monitoring, intervention and guidance
- individual consultations with teacher or counsellor, with up to 20 hours of additional support per course
- assessment-focused teacher input
- access to online support via eLearning modules
- motivation and confidence-building workshops.
Entry requirements
To study this course, you will need:
- A conditional offer from the University of Sydney.
- Your current and most recent IELTS test result or equivalent (e.g. PTE, Cambridge English and TOEFL results). Read the full conditions on the English language requirements page.
Entry requirements may be subject to change without notice. See below for additional conditions specific to each course.
- No more than 1.5 bands below degree entry requirements overall.
Degrees requiring an English level of IELTS 6.5
For students requiring an overall target score of 6.5, no more than 1.5 bands below degree entry requirement in any skill.
| IELTS score required | Minimum degree requirements | Minimum DEC 36 requirements |
|---|---|---|
| Overall | 6.5 | 5.0 |
| Listening | 6.0 | 4.5 |
| Reading | 6.0 | 4.5 |
| Writing | 6.0 | 4.5 |
| Speaking | 6.0 | 4.5 |
Degrees requiring an English level of IELTS 7.0
For students requiring an overall target score of 7 or more, no more than 1 band below degree entry requirement in any skill, and a minimum of 5.5 in reading and listening.
| IELTS score required | Minimum degree requirements | Minimum DEC 36 requirements |
|---|---|---|
| Overall | 7.0 | 5.5 |
| Listening | 6.0 | 5.5 |
| Reading | 6.0 | 5.5 |
| Writing | 6.0 | 5.0 |
| Speaking | 6.0 | 5.0 |
Degrees requiring an English level of IELTS 6.5 or 7.0
- No more than 1 band below degree entry requirement overall.
- No more than 1.5 bands below degree entry requirement in any skill.
| IELTS score required | Minimum degree requirements | Minimum DEC 25 requirements |
|---|---|---|
| Overall | 6.5 / 7.0 | 5.5 / 6.0 |
| Listening | 6.0 | 4.5 |
| Reading | 6.0 | 4.5 |
| Writing | 6.0 | 4.5 |
| Speaking | 6.0 | 4.5 |
Degrees requiring an English level of IELTS 7.0 or above in all skills
- For students requiring a target score of 7 or more in every skill, no more than 1 band below degree entry requirement in any skill.
| IELTS score required | Minimum degree requirements | Minimum DEC 25 requirements |
|---|---|---|
| Overall | 7.0 | 6.0 |
| Listening | 7.0 | 6.0 |
| Reading | 7.0 | 6.0 |
| Writing | 7.0 | 6.0 |
| Speaking | 7.0 | 6.0 |
DEC 15 (15 teaching weeks)
- No more than 0.5 bands below degree entry requirement overall.
- No more than 1 band below degree entry requirement in any skill.
DEC 10 (10 teaching weeks)
- No more than 0.5 bands below degree entry requirement overall.
- Degree entry requirements already achieved for each skill.
DEC 5 (5 teaching weeks)
- Overall degree entry requirement already achieved.
- 0.5 bands below degree entry requirement in one skill only.
Fee information
| Course duration | Tuition fee | Admin fee | Materials fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| DEC 36 (36 teaching weeks) | A$23,400 | A$300 | A$460 |
| DEC 25 | A$16,250 | A$300 | A$350 |
| DEC 15 | A$9,750 | A$300 | A$250 |
| DEC 10 | A$6,500 | A$300 | A$200 |
| DEC 5 | A$3,250 | A$300 | A$150 |
Terms and conditions
Please read the Centre for English Teaching (CET) terms and conditions that apply to you.
Credit card surcharges
Payments made by credit card (Visa or Mastercard) will incur a 1.53% surcharge.
Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC)
If you intend to study under a student visa, you will need Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC).
CET can arrange OSHC for you with Bupa as part of the application process. Simply indicate the type of insurance required (single/couples/single parent/ family) on step 2 of the application form.
You may also arrange your own cover. See the overseas student health cover page for approved providers.
BYOD (Bring Your Own Device)
You will need a laptop computer (Windows or Apple) to participate in the course. Tablet devices such as iPads are not sufficient.