The Australian Government left out Cambridge in a list of global engineering institutes it recognises for a graduate visa programme. Other UK universities such as Imperial, Bristol, Southampton, Leeds, etc., are on the list, in spite of being ranked below Cambridge in most international league tables for engineering.

According to the Australian Government’s immigration website: “A recognised overseas institution is a university recognised by Australian employers as offering world-class degree programs in the field of Engineering.”

University of Cambridge is ranked for engineering 6th in the world by The Times, and 16th by the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) in 2010.  It is the highest ranked engineering institution in Europe in both tables, and is ranked significantly above all Australian universities. Melbourne is the highest ranked Australian university for engineering in The Times table, being ranked 30th. No Australian engineering institute made it to the top 50 in the ARWU league table.

The engineering graduate visa scheme is an initiative by the Australian Government to attract recent engineering graduates from ‘recognised’ overseas institutions to live and work in Australia for 18 months. A graduate from a ‘recognised’ institution is eligible for the programme provided they apply within 2 years of graduation.

Professor Dame Ann Dowling, Head of the Department of Engineering, after being informed by Varsity, told our reporter that she is currently liaising with her Australian Colleagues and the Central University administration “to sort this out”.