Career and course counselling

Pick the career first. The course is the easy part.

Most students choose a course and hope a career follows. We work the other way round, and it is the single reason our students end up where they meant to be. Free, in Kathmandu or online, with a team in Australia for what comes after.

Book free counselling See how we match you

A Nepcoms counsellor discussing course and career options with a student

18 years Counselling students since 2008 Across eight study destinations

2 countries Offices in Nepal and Australia The same team before and after you land

Free Your first counselling session No obligation to apply through us

What counselling should be, and usually is not

A counselling session is not a brochure being read to you. It is four questions answered in the right order, and the order matters more than any of the individual answers.

The order we work in

CAREER FIRST, COUNTRY LAST

What work do you want to be doing in five years? Even a rough answer narrows the field enormously
What can your academic record actually reach? Marks, backlogs, gaps and English score, read honestly
What can your family genuinely fund? Tuition, living costs and the funds a visa officer needs to see
Only then, which country and which course? The destination is an output, not the starting point

What we will not do

HOW TO SPOT A SALESPERSON

Steer you into whichever course pays the largest commission
Promise a visa outcome that nobody can promise
Tell you a career pathway exists when the occupation list says otherwise
Take your money for an application we do not believe in

If a counsellor names a course in the first ten minutes, they are selling. The course should be the last thing decided, not the first.

Matching a course to the career behind it

Every course we recommend is checked against four things. A course that fails any one of them is a course you will regret two years in, whatever the brochure says.

Does it lead anywhere

OCCUPATION AND ACCREDITATION

Is the graduate occupation on a current skilled list
Will the qualification be accepted by the assessing authority
Does the course carry professional accreditation where the job requires it
Is there registration to complete after graduation, and how long it takes

Can you get in and finish

ENTRY AND WORKLOAD

Your GPA against the real entry bar, not the advertised minimum
English requirement of the course and of any registration after it
Credit for study you have already done, which can cut a year
Whether the workload is survivable alongside 24 hours of work a fortnight

Does the money work

FOUR YEARS, NOT ONE SEMESTER

Total tuition across the whole course, not the first instalment
Living costs in that specific city, which vary more than tuition does
The funds evidence a student visa application needs to show
Scholarships you are actually eligible for, applied for on time

The fourth check is the one nobody enjoys: is this genuinely what you want to do? A course chosen because a cousin did it, or because it looked like the shortest route to a visa, is the most expensive mistake on this page. We would rather have that conversation in a free session than after your first tuition payment.

A student reviewing academic transcripts during a Nepcoms counselling session — A low GPA is a constraint, not a verdict It changes which doors are open. It rarely closes all of them.

If your GPA, your study gap or a past refusal is the problem

This is the conversation most students are afraid to start, and it is the one we have most often. A weak transcript, three years out of study, or a refusal on your record does not end the plan. It changes which countries, which providers and which entry route are realistic, and that is a strategy question rather than a verdict.

Low GPA. Pathway and foundation programs, diploma-to-degree packaging, and providers that assess the whole profile rather than one number
Study gap. Gaps are accepted when they are explained and evidenced. Work experience, family circumstances and training in the gap all count when documented properly
Backlogs or a failed year. What matters is the pattern and the recovery, and how the statement of purpose accounts for both
A previous refusal. The refusal reason drives everything next. Reapplying without addressing it is the most common way to collect a second one
Weak English score. Often the cheapest problem to fix, and sometimes the only one standing between you and a better provider

There is also an honest limit here. Some profiles are not ready this intake, and some are better served by a year of work or study in Nepal first. If that is you, we will say so, and we will tell you exactly what to come back with.

Talk it through, free

Popular fields, and where they actually lead

A short, honest read of the fields Nepali students ask about most. These are patterns rather than promises, and every one of them is checked against your own profile in a session.

Occupation lists, state nomination priorities and registration requirements change through the year. Treat this as a starting map and check your own field in a session.
Field of study	Typical entry bar	What it leads to	The honest caveat
Nursing	Strong English, plus registration after graduation	Consistent demand, long-standing skilled occupation	Registration and placement hours are the real hurdle, not admission
IT and cyber security	Moderate GPA, competitive at the well-known providers	Broad employment, strong regional demand	Crowded graduate market. Internships and a professional year change outcomes
Accounting and business	Accessible entry, wide provider choice	Professional pathway with clear accreditation	The most oversubscribed route for points-based migration
Engineering	Solid maths and science record required	Assessed occupations across several disciplines	Skills assessment is discipline-specific. Choose the specialisation carefully
Trades and VET	Lower academic bar, practical aptitude matters	Genuine shortage occupations, often regional	Provider quality varies enormously. This is where choosing badly costs most
Early childhood and aged care	Accessible, with strong English and a police check	Steady demand, regional employers actively hiring	Demanding work. Enter it because you want it, not because entry is easy

Nursing

ENTRY BAR: Strong English, plus registration after graduation
WHERE IT LEADS: Consistent demand, long-standing skilled occupation
HONEST CAVEAT: Registration and placement hours are the real hurdle, not admission

IT and cyber security

ENTRY BAR: Moderate GPA, competitive at the well-known providers
WHERE IT LEADS: Broad employment, strong regional demand
HONEST CAVEAT: Crowded graduate market. Internships and a professional year change outcomes

Accounting and business

ENTRY BAR: Accessible entry, wide provider choice
WHERE IT LEADS: Professional pathway with clear accreditation
HONEST CAVEAT: The most oversubscribed route for points-based migration

Engineering

ENTRY BAR: Solid maths and science record required
WHERE IT LEADS: Assessed occupations across several disciplines
HONEST CAVEAT: Skills assessment is discipline-specific. Choose the specialisation carefully

Trades and VET

ENTRY BAR: Lower academic bar, practical aptitude matters
WHERE IT LEADS: Genuine shortage occupations, often regional
HONEST CAVEAT: Provider quality varies enormously. This is where choosing badly costs most

Early childhood and aged care

ENTRY BAR: Accessible, with strong English and a police check
WHERE IT LEADS: Steady demand, regional employers actively hiring
HONEST CAVEAT: Demanding work. Enter it because you want it, not because entry is easy

Occupation lists and registration requirements change through the year. Check your own field in a session.

If your field points towards staying on after graduation, the graduate visa 485 is the bridge, and the general skilled migration page explains what comes after it. The points calculator is worth running before you choose a course, not after.

Nepcoms counselling students across the Nepal and Australia teams — One team, two countries Counselling in Nepal, support on the ground once you land.

Counselled in Nepal. Supported in Australia.

Most consultancies stop at the departure gate. The advice you get before you leave is only worth as much as the support behind it afterwards, and that is why our Australia team exists rather than being a line in a brochure.

Before you go

Nepal

Career and course counselling, provider shortlists, documentation, English preparation, funds planning and the visa application. In person at our offices, or online if you are outside the valley.

After you land

Australia

Arrival questions, accommodation, work rights, course changes and provider transfers, and the graduate visa conversation when it arrives. Same time zone, same team, same file.

The practical difference: when a course is not working in your second semester, you are talking to someone who already knows your profile rather than starting again with a stranger.

What a counselling session actually involves

About an hour, free, and you leave with a written shortlist rather than a feeling. Bring your transcripts if you have them, and your questions if you do not.

The career conversation
What you want to be doing, what you are good at, and what you would refuse to do for the next ten years. Rough answers are fine. This is the part that saves you the most money.
Come prepared with: nothing. This part is a conversation, and the most useful answers are the honest ones rather than the impressive ones.
The honest profile read
Transcripts, English score, gaps, backlogs and any previous refusal, assessed against what providers actually accept this intake.
Come prepared with: academic transcripts, your English test result if you have one, and dates for any gap in study.
The budget conversation
Total course cost, living costs in the specific city, and the funds a visa application needs to evidence. Told to you as one number, in advance.
Where it goes wrong: planning around the first semester's tuition. The visa application asks about the whole picture, and so should you.
The shortlist
Three to five specific courses at specific providers, each one checked against your career answer, your profile and your budget, with intake dates and deadlines attached.
What you should get: reasons. If a counsellor cannot say why a course is on your list and why another is not, the list is not yours.
What happens next
If you go ahead, we handle applications, offers, English preparation, the visa file and pre-departure. If you do not, you keep the shortlist and there is nothing owed.
Worth knowing: the free session carries no obligation to apply through us. Take the shortlist elsewhere if you want a second opinion.

Book at any of our offices in Nepal, or online. Find your nearest Nepcoms branch.

Common questions

Is career and course counselling really free?

Yes, and with no obligation to apply through us afterwards. The first session is free because it is also how we work out whether we can help you at all. If your profile is not ready, or your plan needs a different kind of specialist, we would rather find that out in an hour than after you have paid for anything.

My GPA is low. Is there any point coming in?

There is, and this is the most common reason students hesitate. A low GPA narrows the list of providers and often changes the entry route to a pathway or diploma program rather than direct entry, but it rarely closes every door. What matters is the whole profile, the reason behind the marks, and how the application accounts for it. Bring your transcripts and we will tell you plainly which options are realistic this intake and which are not.

Can you help me choose the country as well as the course?

That is most of the work. We counsel for Australia, New Zealand, France, South Korea, Dubai and several other destinations, and the right one falls out of your career answer, your budget and your academic profile rather than being chosen first. Australia is the destination we support most deeply because we have a team there, but we will point you elsewhere when elsewhere is the better fit.

Should I choose a course based on the skilled occupation list?

Partly, and carefully. Occupation lists change, sometimes with little notice, so a course chosen purely because an occupation appears on a list today is a bet on a document that governments revise. The stronger approach is to choose a field you can genuinely work in and finish, then check that it also holds up against the current lists and registration requirements. A course that fails on either count is the wrong course, and we will say which one it is failing.

I already have an offer letter. Can you still help?

Yes, and it is worth a session before you accept it. We check the provider, the course accreditation, what the qualification leads to, the total cost against the first instalment, and whether the offer matches the career you described. Sometimes the offer is a good one and you proceed with more confidence. Sometimes it is a course with no pathway behind it, and an hour spent now saves several years.

What if I am already in Australia and my course is not working?

Talk to our Australia team. Course changes and provider transfers have rules attached, particularly in your first six months and in relation to your visa conditions, and doing it in the wrong order creates problems that are harder to fix than the original course. This is exactly the situation the Australia office exists for, and the conversation is the same free counselling as the one before departure.

Book your free counselling session

An honest read of what your marks, gaps and budget can reach this intake
Three to five specific courses at specific providers, with reasons attached
The full cost across the whole course, not the first instalment
What the career on the other side of it actually looks like
Support in Nepal before you go, and in Australia once you land

Free, confidential, and no obligation to apply through us.

Tell us where you are up to

We reply within one working day.

An hour now, or two years spent on the wrong course

The most expensive decision in this whole process is made before any money changes hands, and it is usually made without enough information. Bring us your hardest question.

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Entry requirements, occupation lists and living cost thresholds change through the year. Guidance on this page was last reviewed 8 September 2026. Counselling is general education advice; we do not provide regulated immigration advice on this page.