Yes. The JMC Academy is registered and regulated by the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) which is Australia’s independent national regulator of the higher education sector, both public and private.

TEQSA registers and evaluates the performance of higher education providers against the Higher Education Standards Framework - specifically, the Threshold Standards, which all providers must meet in order to enter and remain within Australia’s higher education system. www.teqsa.gov.au.

The ultimate benefit of studying at JMC Academy is the reassurance and relief in knowing that we are leaders in creative industries education and have been delivering quality education in the Creative Industries for over 30 years. We were the first to be accredited in Australia for education in Audio Engineering, Digital Television and Multimedia.

Our courses have always been practical, with hands-on projects and an intense focus on industry and outcomes undiluted by extensive, non-essential electives.  

In choosing to study at JMC Academy, our students are opting for the benefits of an intimate classroom size where the lecturer knows their name and learning needs. They are choosing to learn at an award-winning institution that fosters collaboration and creative vision. At JMC Academy the student's experience becomes an integral part of their learning and the institution's own values defined by quality, integrity, diligence and innovation indelibly become their own.   

Almost all of our courses are hands on and practical and require students to attend classes for the most engaging and collaborative approach to their learning. We do encourage our students to use online study resources, however our courses would not be as immersive as they are without the practical component. The Masters of Creative Industries does have a number of units which can be studied online.

Both FEE-HELP and HECS-HELP are Commonwealth Government loan schemes that assist eligible fee paying students to pay all or part of their tuition fees. HECS-HELP loans are however subsidised by the Government but only available to students in Commonwealth supported places. For more information please visit http://studyassist.gov.au/sites/StudyAssist/

JMC Academy is broadly recognised and accredited:

• Registered Higher Education Provider.
• Accredited by the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA)
• Registered on the Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students (CRICOS).
• Accredited by the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA)
• Member of the Australian Council of Private Education and Training (ACPET ).
• Nationally recognised under the Australian Qualifications Framework.

Our strong industry links also ensure that JMC Academy qualifications are recognised within the creative industries. 

How long does the application process take?

Applicants who submit a complete application (including all accompanying documentation, including folio or audition if applicable) will usually be contacted within 24 hours to arrange an interview. After a successful interview, an offer letter will usually be issued within 24 hours. 

We love seeing the creative talent of our applicants. However please make sure you submit an application before providing your folio. Digital artwork, scanned drawings and other work may be submitted by email or ftp server. For further information on what to include in your folio, please contact our admissions team.

Congratulations on reaching the interview stage! Now that we have seen your documents and know a little about you - the interview will help us learn more.

For the interview, you should be clear about why you want to study at JMC, what your career goals are and how studying at JMC will help you achieve those goals. You should also be prepared to answer questions about the practical components of studying away from home – for example, accommodation, living costs and visa regulations (international students).

We also encourage you to prepare some questions for us, as this is a great opportunity for you to clarify your expectations, and for International students to prepare for your move to Australia. The interview can help you and JMC to identify if this will be the right place and fit for you. 

All our campuses are easily accessible by public transport so no on-campus accommodation is provided. In Australia it's most common for students to live off campus and commute. This applies to local and international students. We can help you to find suitable accommodation so please feel free to ask for help. Accommodation may be found via one of the following useful sites:
www.scape.com.au
www.ozhomestay.com.au
www.iglu.com.au

JMC Academy are now please to offer our Master of Creative Industries, A unique course which enables you to build on your innovative drive and creative practice by working with you to develop a concept or project that can be taken into the commercial domain upon graduation. JMC’s Master of Creative Industries delivers a critical understanding of the booming creative sector. Focused on real-world production standards, JMC's MCI will give you the freedom to explore, create and apply your skills while developing your own concept into commercial reality. It will build your creative network, strengthen your critical thinking and extend your practice.  

At JMC, we pride ourselves on our face-to-face learning experience. There is nothing like collaborating on creative projects with other students across all courses. Our philosophy is based on 'learning by doing' and the value of hands on practical classes can not be underestimated. 

Students are on campus or in some cases online for the equivalent of 24 (full time study load) and are also expected to spend another 16 hours per week doing the work required to complete the assessment tasks. This is ‘self-paced’ study, and students are responsible for managing their own time so they can do the work required, as per the assessment briefs and deadlines. Students find with good time management they can balance part time work and life commitments with their studies.  

Building your network with like-minded people and meeting people in the industry is really important. We encourage you to attend industry talks and events (many of which are held on campus) and introduce yourself to people. Amazing opportunities often arise through those connections so be open to new experiences. Create your own opportunities as well. If there’s nothing else happening, keep working. Work on your own projects and set yourself tasks to enhance and refine your skills so you not only have great content to add to your showreel, but when an opportunity does come up, you’re ready to seize it.

Any tertiary institution would be incapable of guaranteeing graduate employment beyond their studies. What we can guarantee is that you will receive the highest level of tuition during your study with us. You will be immersed in a creative and vibrant environment with like-minded students. In our 2014 survey (of over 500 recent graduate respondents), 68% found employment in a directly relevant field within 15 weeks of graduation.  

During their working life, graduates will undoubtedly find themselves working across a variety of industries. We therefore accept that our goal is to not only produce talented graduates, but those who can remain productive throughout. This is achieved not only through the specialised skills taught within our courses, but through the development of soft skills such as collaboration, analysis and effective communication. This same survey revealed:

•  89% of graduates improved their skills in communicating with people.
  •    94% developed their skills to work as an effective member of a team. 
  •    90% felt they had the capacity to manage change effectively. 
  •    95% of graduates agreed that their course provided them with the appropriate level of confidence in using relevant technology. 

Many jobs in the creative industries are found via direct recommendations or referrals. At JMC Academy, many of these recommendations are made while students are completing their studies and via organisations that approach JMC for graduates. That is why we stress the importance of networking through our industry connected lecturers and taking advantage of the many work experience and internship opportunities that arise during your time at JMC. Throughout their studies, students are progressively adding to their portfolio of work, networking with lecturers and students, and learning how to run their own businesses. All of this directly contributes to their ability to generate an income in a field they are passionate about and enjoy.

Yes. We offer multiple pathways into the course regardless of your current drawing abilities. Art is one of these pathways, however If you don’t feel all too comfortable drawing, we offer pathways in technical and conceptual skills.

A portfolio essentially relates to samples of your work. If you have finished artwork, that’s fantastic, but not essential. What we’re looking for is that you have a drive to create things and are passionate about the field, so show us that in your portfolio! Things like sketches or drawings, notes, ideas and characters you’ve invented are all great.

It’s your passion for creating, telling stories and discovering new forms of play that we’re really looking for, and we teach the course from beginner level up so you’re in good hands.

The Game course is primarily focused on art and design, but we recognise that a familiarity with scripting and programming is a key part of the skillset of a game artist, and you will certainly learn skills in those areas as well. The emphasis is on understanding the theory behind games, designing interesting challenges, mechanics, concepts and stories, and creating the art and assets for those concepts. You would be studying a mix of art and design, software and programming skills, and theoretical concepts.

While the availability of internships and work placements depends on the individual companies and studios in the industry, we have strong relationships with many practising game designers and game studios. As a result of these connections there is the potential for you to experience internships and placements, studio visits, talks and workshops by industry practitioners, and assessment feedback opportunities from industry people during dedicated 'speed networking' nights. Where practical, interviews will be arranged for individual graduating students with companies seeking to recruit new talent.

Applications used in the Game Design course include Maya for modelling and animation, MotionBuilder for motion capture, Substance Painter & Designer for texturing and ZBrush for digital sculpture. Unity 3D will be your core game engine and you'll work with Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and After Effects. You will also have the chance to try a range of other packages such as Nuke, SourceTree & Foundry Mari.

This depends on where you would like to focus your career. Would you like to be a performer, or be behind the desk? In our music, songwriting and production courses there are units on how to produce your own music which might be worth considering. If you want to know all there is about audio — including how to produce all kinds of music and sound, then this is the course for you. Being a musician is an added bonus for this course as the knowledge and skills you have as a musician can be applied to production. Having said that, you don’t need to be a musician to study this course, as basic music theory is included in the curriculum.

You do not need to provide any samples. However, you are welcome to provide samples of work. This may include any recordings you’ve done - whether that be live, studio or in your room, screen shots of any ProTools sessions or examples of any technical experience you've had including PA setup, session setup, helping out at live music events, at school or otherwise. Although not necessary, experience such as this demonstrates your keen interest in pursuing audio as a career.

If you are a vocalist, you are not required to play an instrument. However, if you have selected to play an instrument other than voice as part of your studies, your eligibility will be determined during the audition process. All successful applicants will be provided the tuition you need to progress through the course.

This depends on where your passion lies. Do you love performing and getting on stage in front of an audience, or do you prefer composing, creating, and telling stories through music? If you get stage fright and performing in front of a live audience is not your thing, then the songwriting course could be a better option for you. As a songwriter, you’ll still have the opportunity to participate in an ensemble in order to learn how to develop your musical ideas to be performance ready, but you won’t have to have the spotlight on your own performance (unless you choose to!).

No. For those with little or no theory background, we'll teach you what you need to know from the ground up. We also offer a program during orientation week which provides a crash course to help you get started if theory isn’t your strong point. Additional support throughout your course will also be available. 

This depends on what you’re auditioning with – there are different requirements for vocals vs instruments for example, so check with your admissions advisor as to what you will need to bring to your audition. To make the best of the audition - practice! Play something that you’re comfortable with and know well. Don’t bite off more than you can chew. Don’t base your audition song on what you think we want to hear – we want to see who you are as an artist, so choose a song that you love playing and that shows your own unique style. Make sure you’ve brought everything you need. Don’t stress. We want you to do well and will try to make you feel as comfortable as possible.

Definitely. As part of the application process, we conduct auditions which will help determine your level. Vocal ability is subjective, and everyone is their own worst critic so we encourage you to come along and show us what you’ve got...keeping in mind that we don’t expect you to be an accomplished performer or finished artist. It's our job however to get you there!

You will work with three main types of software - Sibelius, ProTools and Ableton. 

This depends on what outcome you want to work towards, what career you want to ultimately pursue and where your passion lies. If you see yourself performing your music to a live audience and are excited about the thought of doing so then contemporary music performance might be the way to go. Bear in mind that the Bachelor’s Degree in Contemporary Music Performance does teach two units in Songwriting.

If you love the idea of composing, creating, and telling stories through your music and you're not comfortable with the thought of performing in front of an audience then the songwriting course may be a better option for you. 

Of course, if you decide to study the songwriting course, there will be plenty of opportunities for you to perform on your own or within an ensemble.

An audition is not a requirement of entry. What we do need to see, is a demonstrated passion and/or experience in songwriting. This may involve an audition, or simply being able to show samples of composition work (lyrics, chord charts, or past recordings). Our staff will let you know if you need to prepare anything when you’re booking an interview. 

No. For those with little or no theory background, we'll teach you what you need to know from the ground up. We also offer a program during orientation week which provides a crash course to help you get started if theory isn’t your strong point.  

This depends on where your passion lies. Do you love performing and getting on stage in front of an audience, or do you prefer composing, creating, and telling stories through music? If you get stage fright and the thought of performing in front of a live audience makes you feel weak at the knees, then the songwriting course could be a better option for you. As a songwriter, you’ll still have the opportunity to participate in an ensemble, in order to learn how to develop your musical ideas to be performance ready, but you won’t have to have the spotlight on your own performance.

Yes, while the content covers a range of arts management areas, there is a large focus on events, touring and festivals. In fact, the wide range of operational, business and marketing skills you are taught can be applied to a wide range of careers and the running of any business but would be particularly useful for event management. 

Our degree offers many similar units of study, however it is focused specifically on the entertainment and creative industries, as opposed to a university business degree which would cover business management skills across all industries. Our course therefore, has a more specialised outcome with a great emphasis placed on practical application and internship opportunities. 

As the entertainment management industry is ‘people oriented’, there is a focus on presentations, but you will also do things like business and marketing plans, event manuals, tour and festival schedules, and other theoretical assessments such as essays.

No, you do not need to provide any samples of work to be eligible. However, you are welcome to provide samples of work. Any scripts you’ve written, YouTube clips, short films, story boards you’ve drawn, visual and written ideas for films or tv shows, and any technical experience you may have had either in school, via extracurricular activities, work experience or volunteer work. 

Absolutely. You do not need to have had any experience with film equipment as we cater to all levels of experience. 

You will not need to purchase your own computer or any film gear as we have fully equipped editing suites and an equipment loan service with quality mics, lighting, cameras and a myriad of accessories available for student use. 

You will mainly be working with AVID editing software, and you will also gain exposure to Media Composer, Photoshop and After Effects, and certain types of screenwriting software. 

Although you may want to be a film maker, it is important to have a wide range of skills when entering the industry. You will still learn about film making in great detail; however, this course will provide you with a greater range of career options upon graduation. The skills learnt may be applied to film as well as television production.

You will do a range of assessments that will demonstrate your understanding, including short film making, documentaries, television commercials, music videos, live broadcasts and multi-cam, pitches and presentations, sound recording, film analysis and screenplays. At the end of the Bachelor there is project-based work where you'll be able to choose your main assessment, which could be any of the above. 

You'll start learning the proper way to handle the film gear in your first Trimester. Students are then assessed on their competency for handling the equipment. Once this is undertaken, students are able to loan cameras and equipment suitable for their on campus or on location shoots, projects and assessments. 

You will need to bring the following to your course:

• Laptop: Macbook Pro or similarly powered
• Windows laptop, running latest OS
• Device: Smartphone or Tablet
• Journal: A5 size Blank pages
• Pen: Felt-tip 0.3-0.5
• Pencils: HB-2B, rulers and erasers

JMC will supply you with Adobe Creative Cloud software

At application, we are most keen to learn about your passion and reasons for wanting to study design. In addition to that, we ask that you answer the following two questions prior to coming in for the interview:

1. Show us your best piece of work

What’s something you’ve created that you’re really proud of? It can be any of the following:

• An image (a photography piece, an illustration or a painting)
• A project (an idea, a story, a film critique, a blog, etc…)
• A product (a website, an animation, a poster, presentation, etc…)

Write a small paragraph explaining your choices and rationale behind it. Show us your rigor and initiative. Give us an insight into your creative approach, your creativity and the resulting output.

2. Tell us your thoughts

• Choose a brand that you like and think is successful; write a short paragraph reflecting on why you like it and the reasons behind its success.
• Choose a brand that you dislike or has not been doing well; write a short paragraph reflecting on what the issues are and how they might improve.

Show us the way you see the world around you, your standard of what makes a design good or bad and an insight into your thought process.

No. We equip you with digital tools that allow you to create high-functioning prototypes without coding. 

We are committed to strengthening our Design Industry connections by fostering both internships and industry-based projects. You will also be mentored by industry practitioners on some of the projects throughout your course of study. In addition, we have industry guests come and talk on a range of topics in each trimester, so you get to build your network even before you graduate.

This course is very hands on, and you will tackle real world creative projects. However, having a foundational understanding of design theory is still vitally important. There is approximately a 25% (theory) to 75% (practice) balance.

No. We assess your work as would happen in the workplace via proposal documents and reports, presentations and demonstrations.

As with any design you will need to communicate ideas via drawing and sketching. We believe anyone can learn how to think visually, and we teach sketching techniques right from the beginning. So, if you are open to making marks and learning how to do it well, that’s all you need to start!

A live audition is not a requirement of entry. What we do need to see is a demonstrated passion and/or experience in production and/or composition. This may involve simply being able to show samples of your work (lyrics, chord charts, or past recordings). Our staff will let you know if you need to prepare anything when you’re booking an interview.

No. For those with little or no theory background, we’ll teach you what you need to know from the ground up. We also offer a program during orientation week which provides a crash course to help you get started if theory isn’t your strong point.

This depends on where your passion lies. Do you love performing and getting on stage in front of an audience, or do you prefer composing, creating, and telling stories through music? If you love making new music and composing new works in the studio then the production stream might be for you. As a Producer, you’ll still have the opportunity to participate in an ensemble and collaborate with other musicians, but you’ll also dig deep into contemporary production techniques and create plenty of new, original music.

At JMC we use 3 main DAW’s - Logic, ProTools, and Ableton Live. The software you use will depend on the work you are doing. Students also use Sibelius, Musition, and Auralia across the program. Our songwriting and production suites have a multitude of high-quality virtual instruments installed, and there are numerous pieces of hardware such as synthesizers, drum machines and microphones that you can also access as part of your production work.

For information on How to Apply, please click here.

Yes. For a list of JMC Academy’s registered agents, please click here.

In some cases, applications can be accepted up to the end of the first week of an intake, however students should note that visa applications can take some time to process. For information on visa processing times, we suggest you contact the Australian diplomatic mission in your country or one of our agent representatives.

You can download our fee sheet here. Please note that there is no difference in fees between the two and three year Bachelor Degrees.

Yes, there is currently one international scholarship for each of the JMC Academy campuses.  These scholarships are currently only available for February intakes. See full details here. 

There is no fee for applying. However, an enrolment fee of $150 is charged when you accept your offer.

The first trimester tuition fee is to be paid after your enrolment form and enrolment acceptance agreement have been returned. The first trimester tuition fee must be paid in full before commencement of the intake. The fee payment schedule is included in your enrolment acceptance agreement.

The decision to grant a visa is made by the Australian Immigration office. Enrolling at JMC Academy will make you eligible to apply for a student visa. You will need a Letter of Offer and Confirmation of Enrolment from us in order to apply. You will also need to show evidence of Overseas Student Health Cover. JMC can assist you in purchasing this cover.

JMC Academy will provide the documents required for a student visa application, and can give you some guidance in making your application. However, it is your responsibility to apply for a visa. For some countries, visa applications can be submitted online through the Department of Immigration website. Visit www.immi.gov.au/students to learn about visa eligibility and procedures.

Visit www.immi.gov.au/students to learn more about the visa application process. For most countries, the visa application process is really simple and can be done online. Some students prefer to use an education agent for help in applying for a visa. You can find a list of agents here. 

Yes. All our bachelor degree programs are eligible for processing under the SVP arrangements. To learn more please contact our International Admissions staff.

All our campuses are easily accessible by public transport so no on-campus accommodation is provided. In Australia, it's most common for students to live off campus and commute. This applies to local and international students. We can help you to find suitable accommodation so please feel free to ask for help. Accommodation may be found via one of the following useful sites:
www.urbanest.com.au
www.ozhomestay.com.au
www.iglu.com.au

Yes. However, in order to manage your study load, JMC recommends you work no more than 16 hours per week. 

With respect to international students, while the student visa allows you to work up to 40 hours per fortnight during semester (and more during breaks), we do recommend limiting your work hours to no more than 16 hours per week to allow adequate time to study and attend classes.

Australia is a very safe and peaceful multicultural country. In the Better Life Index of OECD countries, Australia ranks among the top countries in a range of areas, including safety, health, environment and civic engagement. For more information, please see www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/countries/australia/ 

The choice is yours! Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane all provide a great environment for international students, and each city has its own unique charm and advantages. You also have the option of moving between cities/campuses during your studies. For more information on what each of these great cities have to offer click here or contact the International Admissions team for further information on this.

The cost of living in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane depends largely on lifestyle, accommodation choice and social life. As a general guide, students can expect to spend an average of AU$390 per week on rent, food and public transport. This amount does not cover tuition and text books.

Students who complete all six trimesters of their Bachelor Degree at JMC Academy are eligible to apply for a Temporary Graduate Visa (Subclass 485), which permits them to stay in Australia for two years after completion of their degree. There is additional cost involved in applying for this visa.