Hi Kate
I am a UK citizen who came to Australia on a holiday and decided to stay. I changed my visa to a student visa after enrolling in a PhD over here. It took a bit of searching on the immi.gov.au site but I found the answers I needed.
At the moment, the pbutt mark is 120 points.
Skill: I get 50 pts for my occupation (but only because I will have an Australian PhD) so your friends may need to make sure they train in a 60 point occupation which can be found on the SOL list.
Age: I get 30 points for being under 30 years old. You lose 5 points every subsequent 5 years (so 25 points for age 30 - 34, 20 points for 35-39 etc).
English: I get 20 points for fluent English - and I expect your friends will too!
Education: I get 15 points for completing an Australian PhD (5 points for Bachelors or Diploma and 10 points for a Masters following a Bachelors - must be min 2 years full time in Australia).
Bonus: I'm going to invest $100K for 12 months to get the 5 points extra.
Your friends, depending on which career they train for may be eligible for extra points for a job in demand or for working-studying in a regional area.
I would suggest talking to an agent who is familiar with studying as an avenue to PR (I will be speaking to George Lombard myself when it becomes time to apply).
Good luck
--
