Group of Eight Fees and Entry from India, 2026-27

Australia's Group of Eight publishes more usable detail on fees and entry for Indian students than most American universities do, and almost none of it makes it into the aggregator pages. Below is what six of the eight actually publish, read on 26 September 2026.

Two warnings before the numbers. Fee years differ between universities, so these are not directly comparable unless you match the year. And unlike Hong Kong and Singapore, Australian fees are indicative and reviewed annually, meaning they rise during your degree rather than locking at entry.

What the six charge, including ANU fees for international undergraduates

ANU charges Commerce, Science and Engineering at one rate and prices Arts lower, at AUD 49,820. Adelaide and UWA each charge a non-refundable application fee of AUD 150.

Melbourne is the odd one and the range is not sloppiness on our part. It charges per subject, by the discipline fee band of each subject rather than by the degree, so your bill depends on what you enrol in. Melbourne publishes indicative course totals as well: AUD 163,388 to 189,947 for Commerce in 2026, rising to AUD 180,714 to 200,139 for 2027 entry.

Sydney's 2026 figures, for comparison on the same footing as the others, were AUD 56,300 for Commerce and AUD 60,600 for Science and Engineering. The year-on-year step is roughly five percent.

Australian university CBSE entry requirements, from ANU to UWA

This is where the published detail is genuinely good, and where a misreading is expensive.

ANU converts to a selection rank. For CBSE it uses a 20-point score, not a percentage, calculated from English or Hindi plus the best four externally examined subjects, with A1 worth 4 points down to D2 worth 0.5. A score of 14.0 gives a rank of 80, 15.5 gives 85, 17.0 gives 90 and 20.0 gives 99. For ISC it uses the average of English and the best three subjects: 84 gives a rank of 80, 90 gives 90, 96 gives 99. Reading that CBSE 14.0 as a percentage is an easy and disastrous mistake.

UWA uses the same idea with different arithmetic. CBSE points come from the best four subjects, A1 worth 5 down to E worth 0, and 9.0 points equals an ATAR of 70 while 16.0 equals 90. For CISCE it takes the average of the best four: 60 equals ATAR 70, 80 equals 90, 96 equals 98.

Adelaide publishes a straightforward percentage. Its country table asks for at least 70 percent in the best four approved subjects for CBSE and ISC, and 80 percent for state boards. Individual degrees then set their own minimum: Business and Science want 65 from CBSE or CISCE and 75 from a state board, Engineering wants 75 and 85.

Melbourne uses the average of your best four final-year subjects, and it is raising the bar sharply. Commerce needs 81 for 2026 entry and 90 for 2027 and beyond. Science goes from 75 to 85, Arts from 65 to 74, Design from 70 to 80. Anyone planning against a figure they read last year is planning against the wrong number. Prerequisite subjects apply on top: Commerce wants English and Mathematics, Science wants English, Mathematics and one of Biology, Chemistry or Physics.

Sydney runs a 21-point aggregate for CBSE, built the same way as ANU's but with its own ceiling: five A1 grades with a numerical average of 96 or higher is deemed 21. Its bar is the highest here. Commerce wants CBSE 19 or ISC 94, Engineering Honours wants 15.5 or 87, Science wants 14 or 84.

UQ publishes no India entry table at all. Its qualification sheets cover the IB, New Zealand, Hong Kong, South Africa, the UK and the USA, and its page tells other applicants to contact the university for advice. Any page claiming "UQ requires X percent from CBSE" is not sourcing that from UQ.

Board English instead of IELTS in Australia, which is worth money

Three of the four accept an Indian board English mark in place of IELTS. That saves a test fee, a booking, and several weeks.

Melbourne's bar is the lowest of any here: a pass in the board English subject. Adelaide's alternative-evidence list covers Australian, IB and roughly twenty countries' qualifications, and India, CBSE, CISCE and ISC do not appear on it. Sydney likewise lists no Indian qualification on either of its two substitution routes, and its Commerce degree wants IELTS 7.0 rather than 6.5.

So the test is decided by your list, not by your country. Four of these six will take your board English; the two that will not are Adelaide and Sydney.

ANU adds a condition worth noting: the qualifying English result must be no more than two years old at the date of application.

The deadline trap, and why UWA closes earlier for India

UWA publishes earlier closing dates for India than for most other countries:

ANU closes Semester 1 2027 on 15 December 2026. Sydney closes on 1 December of the preceding year, Melbourne and UQ on 30 November. Adelaide publishes no central closing date and tells applicants to check the individual degree page.

So the Australian round runs earlier than most Indian families expect, and it lands in the middle of Class 12 board preparation. Both main intakes are February and July across all four.

Scholarships actually open to you

• ANU Chancellor's International Scholarship: 25 or 50 percent of tuition for the degree, India explicitly listed, up to 200 available.
• ANU International Merit Award: 20 percent at a selection rank of 85 or above, assessed automatically with no application.
• UWA Global Excellence Scholarship: 10 percent at an ATAR equivalent of 85 to 89.95, 20 percent at 90 or above, awarded automatically on the offer.
• Adelaide: a tiered set from the Academic Excellence Scholarship at 50 percent, which wants an ATAR equivalent of 99, down through 25, 15 and 10 percent awards, most assessed automatically.
• UQ International Excellence Scholarship: 25 percent for the duration, assessed automatically among offer holders.
• Melbourne International Undergraduate Scholarship: a fee remission awarded automatically, worth 25 percent for entry before 2027 and 20 percent from 2027, though the number available rises from about 110 to 225. Commerce applicants can also be considered automatically for the A.G. Whitlam award, AUD 10,000 a year for three years, with India named among the eligible countries and 15 awarded.
• Sydney Scholars India: the most India-specific award here, up to AUD 40,000 with 28 granted annually, of which two cover full tuition for up to four years. It requires Indian citizenship and current residence in India, and it has its own application window, roughly April to late May. Sydney also runs a 20 percent International Student Award for 2027 entry, and about 20 full-tuition Academic Excellence Scholarships globally per year.

One to ignore: UQ's Vice-Chancellor's Scholarship, worth AUD 12,000 a year, requires Years 11 and 12 completed in Australia. It is listed on plenty of Indian sites as available to Indian applicants. It is not.

What to do with this

1. Work out your rank, not your percentage. ANU and UWA both convert through a points scale, and the numbers look nothing like the percentage on your marksheet.
2. Check whether you need IELTS at all. Three of these four will take your board English. That decision changes your timeline.
3. Diary the India deadline, not the general one, especially for UWA.
4. Treat the fee as rising, not fixed. This is the opposite of Hong Kong, where your cohort rate is locked at entry.
5. Budget the visa separately from the fees. The Australian student visa for Indian students carries its own charge and its own financial-capacity test.

For the wider picture, see studying in Australia from India and the Australia field guide. Choosing between these six on rank conversion rather than on ranking is the sort of decision we work through in college admissions counselling.

Where this stops applying

Adelaide, UWA, Melbourne and ANU figures are published 2026 rates; Sydney's and UQ's are 2027, because that is what each was serving on 26 September 2026. Melbourne's 2027 entry requirements are already published and are materially higher than its 2026 ones. Australian tuition is explicitly indicative and reviewed annually, entry tables are revised, and UQ's absence of an India table may change. Confirm on the university's own page for your intake before acting.