A premium international online school for South Asian families, African and Caribbean diaspora families, returning expats and Cambridge-pathway Australian homeschoolers — Cambridge IGCSE, A-Level, IB Diploma and Pearson Edexcel delivered through live group classes in the Asia-Pacific time-zone band, plus unlimited recordings. From from USD 400/month (≈ AUD 252).
Australia is a different conversation from most countries we serve. Public schools are free and broadly capable, and the ATAR pathway is well-developed. The pressure points are specific: South Asian families wanting Cambridge IGCSE and A-Level pathways familiar from home and recognised by UK universities; African diaspora families wanting their children connected academically to home and to global university pathways; expat Australians returning from postings in Singapore, the UAE or the UK who want IGCSE/IB continuity; regional and rural families with limited local IB or Cambridge options; and Australian families wanting a Cambridge alternative to ATAR for UK and US university applications. Smartious is built for these families — with live group classes scheduled in the Asia-Pacific time-zone band so students join during Australian daytime hours, not late at night.
All curricula are taught live by degree-qualified subject specialists, with full past paper access, mock exam programmes and university application support.
Homeschooling is legal across every Australian state and territory, but each state writes its own legislation — and the differences are significant. Queensland is the most permissive: plan-based registration with the Home Education Unit (HEU), no home visits, annual report. Victoria is moderate: register with VRQA, brief education plan, no mandatory home visits or testing. NSW, Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory are more regulated: registration with the state authority, formal curriculum alignment with the Australian Curriculum or recognised equivalent, periodic home visits, regular renewal. Tasmania and the ACT sit in the moderate band. Importantly, there is no reciprocal recognition between states — moving from Queensland to NSW means registering from scratch with NESA. Smartious is an internationally accredited online school based in Nairobi, Kenya — we are not Australian-registered and we cannot substitute for state homeschool registration. Cambridge IGCSE and A-Level are accepted as Australian Curriculum equivalents in most states for registration purposes, but the registration relationship is with the state authority, not with us. We discuss each family's state-specific setup during admissions.
Cambridge IGCSE, Cambridge A-Level and Pearson Edexcel examinations are sat at authorised private-candidate centres in major Australian cities. Cambridge International has authorised centres in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Canberra. The British Council also runs exam centres in these cities. IB Diploma examinations are administered through authorised IB World Schools, of which Australia has many. Smartious handles all examination registration, advises on the most convenient centre, and runs full mock examination programmes before the May/June and October/November series.
Yes — homeschooling is legal across every Australian state and territory. The notification and assessment requirements vary widely: Queensland and Victoria are more flexible (plan-based registration, no home visits); NSW, WA, SA and NT are more regulated (formal curriculum alignment, home visits, periodic renewal). Smartious is an international online school based in Nairobi — we are not Australian-registered, and we do not substitute for state homeschool registration. We provide the curriculum, teaching, and progress documentation your state registration needs.
Yes — this is one of the largest groups we serve in Australia. Indian Australians (almost 1 million by ancestry) plus Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Sri Lankan families are concentrated in Greater Sydney (especially Parramatta), Melbourne (Wyndham, Tarneit), Perth and Brisbane. Many of these families choose Cambridge IGCSE and A-Level for their children because the curriculum is familiar from home, recognised by Indian universities and UK universities, and academically rigorous in a way that aligns with their expectations. We deliver Cambridge live and online with strong UCAS and Common App support alongside Australian university applications.
Yes. African Australians number around 327,000 (with strongholds in Victoria, NSW, WA and Queensland), plus over 200,000 South African Australians. Diaspora families with roots in Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan often want their children connected academically to home and to international university pathways. Cambridge IGCSE and A-Level give them that flexibility — apply to UNILAG, Wits, UCT, UoN, UK Russell Group or Australian universities from the same school record.
Yes. Cambridge IGCSE, Cambridge A-Level, IB Diploma and Pearson Edexcel are recognised by every Australian university — the Group of Eight (Melbourne, Sydney, ANU, UNSW, Queensland, Monash, Adelaide, WA) plus all other Australian universities. A-Level results convert directly to ATAR equivalents through UAC, VTAC, QTAC and the equivalent admissions centres. Many Australian universities also award advanced standing credit for A-Level results in matching subjects.
Yes, and this is one of our common scenarios. Expat Australian families returning from postings in Singapore, the UAE, the UK, Hong Kong or elsewhere find that their child's current Cambridge IGCSE or IB programme cannot continue at most Australian schools — schools follow the state curriculum and ATAR pathway. Smartious provides that continuity. Same curriculum, same exam board, same teachers, no enrolment break. We accept mid-term enrolments year-round.
Smartious runs live group classes across three time-zone bands — UK & Africa, Americas, and Asia-Pacific — with a stable small team of subject specialists assigned to each band. Australian students join the Asia-Pacific band, scheduled during Australian daytime hours so AEST and AWST families can attend live without late-night classes. Every class is also recorded for unlimited rewatch, so students who occasionally miss a session, or who learn better revisiting material, never fall behind. Private one-on-one tuition is scheduled directly with the tutor at times that suit the family.
Yes — this is a common setup. Many Australian students attend their public or independent school during the day and use Smartious as a parallel Cambridge IGCSE or A-Level track in evenings, weekends or school holidays. This works particularly well for families wanting an international pathway alongside their ATAR, for diaspora families wanting academic continuity with home, and for students preparing for UK or US university applications.
Smartious is particularly well-suited to families in regional and rural Australia where local IB or Cambridge options are limited or non-existent. With a stable internet connection, students in regional NSW, Victoria, Queensland and WA can access the same Cambridge teaching as students in Sydney or Melbourne. We have several Australian families currently learning from regional areas.
Top Australian private schools (Scotch College, Geelong Grammar, Sydney Grammar, MLC) charge AUD $30,000-$45,000+ per year. International Baccalaureate private schools sit at AUD $25,000-$40,000. Smartious annual fees are USD $2,160-$6,180 (approximately AUD $3,000-$8,700). We do not market on price as our primary positioning — our value is internationally recognised qualifications, degree-qualified specialists and a school that follows your family wherever life takes you.
Yes. Smartious students join virtual classes and recordings with classmates across Australia and from Kenya, Nigeria, the UK, UAE, the USA, Canada and beyond. Our Wednesday enrichment programme runs online clubs in coding, robotics, debate, Model UN, chess, journalism and leadership. For Australian families, we strongly encourage participation in local homeschool co-ops, sports clubs, scouts and cultural community groups for in-person social development — Smartious complements that rather than replacing it.
All Smartious teachers hold degrees in the subjects they teach. Our subject specialists are qualified secondary teachers in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, English Language and Literature, History, Geography, Business Studies, Computer Science, French and Spanish. We screen every candidate through a written subject assessment, a teaching demonstration and a safeguarding check. Our teachers do not hold Australian state teaching registrations — that is a state public-school regulatory requirement that does not apply to private international online education. They hold subject-matter qualifications appropriate to Cambridge International, Pearson Edexcel and IB programmes.
Yes. Australian universities accept Cambridge A-Level results converted to ATAR equivalents through UAC (NSW/ACT), VTAC (Victoria), QTAC (Queensland) and the equivalent admissions centres in WA, SA, Tasmania and NT. Three good A-Levels at A or B grades typically converts to a strong ATAR equivalent. Many international universities also strongly prefer A-Levels over ATAR, so families targeting Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial, US Ivy League or top Canadian universities often choose A-Levels for the broader university optionality.
Australia is a market with strong public schools and an established ATAR pathway — we are not built to compete with those. Smartious is built for specific families whose academic needs sit outside, alongside or in parallel to the Australian state system.
Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Sri Lankan families — particularly in Greater Sydney (Parramatta, Westmead, Blacktown), Melbourne (Wyndham, Tarneit, Hoppers Crossing), Perth and Brisbane — who want Cambridge IGCSE and A-Level for their children for academic alignment with home-country systems and pathway flexibility to UK and Indian universities. The Indian-born population in Australia has doubled in a decade.
Nigerian-Australian, South African-Australian, Kenyan-Australian, Zimbabwean-Australian, Ghanaian-Australian, Ethiopian and Somali families — strongest concentrations in Victoria, NSW, WA and Queensland — who want their children connected academically to home and to international university pathways. Cambridge IGCSE and A-Level open doors back to African, UK and Australian universities.
Australian families returning from postings in Singapore, the UAE, the UK, Hong Kong or elsewhere whose children are mid-stream in Cambridge IGCSE or IB programmes. Smartious provides continuity — the same curriculum, teachers and exam board across the move, without losing a school year to ATAR-curriculum mismatch.
Australian homeschooling families — particularly in Queensland and Victoria where homeschool registration is more flexible — who want the academic structure of a real online school with live recordings, fixed curriculum and predictable progress reports. Cambridge IGCSE and A-Level give them a globally recognised qualification that travels regardless of which Australian state they live in.
Regional NSW, Victoria, Queensland, WA, the Top End and Tasmania often have no local IB or Cambridge option. Smartious brings the same teaching to anywhere in Australia with stable internet — live group classes in the Asia-Pacific time band, taught by the same stable team of subject specialists, with every class recorded for unlimited rewatch.
Parents whose child has experienced bullying, severe anxiety, or who is twice-exceptional (gifted plus another need) often find Australian schools too large or too rigid. Smartious classes cap at 12 online with one-on-one tuition available at USD $8/hour for additional support.
Australia is home to almost 1 million Indian Australians, 327,000 African Australians, and 215,000 South African Australians. Plus growing communities from across the African diaspora. For families whose children are growing up between two worlds, Smartious is purpose-built for that bridge.
Cambridge IGCSE and A-Level are the qualifications most South Asian, African and Caribbean university systems expect. Your child can apply to Delhi University, IITs, UNILAG, UCT, Wits, UoN, UWI, Oxford, UCL and Melbourne from the same school record — without juggling ATAR conversions on top of everything else.
Live group classes in the Asia-Pacific time-zone band run during Australian daytime hours. Every class is recorded for unlimited rewatch. Many diaspora families add Smartious in evenings or weekends — your child attends their Australian school by day and joins their Smartious cohort live in the afternoon, or catches up with recordings on their own schedule.
Your child joins live group classes and Wednesday enrichment with peers in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane and across the Asia-Pacific band. Recordings let them also engage asynchronously with the broader Smartious community in Lagos, Nairobi, London, Houston and Toronto — many on parallel journeys between cultures.
For families whose children spend long Christmas breaks (December-January, the long Aussie summer) with grandparents in Mumbai, Lagos, Nairobi, Johannesburg or Accra, Smartious continues uninterrupted across the trip — same login, same teachers, same curriculum. No catching up on return.
Australian homeschool law is state-based, not federal. Each state has its own regulator and process. Here is how Smartious fits into each state's system — and which states are more or less hands-on.
Wednesday enrichment programmes — coding, robotics, debate, Model UN, chess, journalism, AI and leadership — run live in each time-zone band and are recorded for unlimited rewatch. Students in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth connect with classmates in Nairobi, Lagos, London, Houston and Toronto.
Explore Wednesday ActivitiesHow we compare to typical Australian private schools. Australian public schools are free and broadly capable — we are not competing with them. We compete with private schools, IB schools and specialist online providers where families want specific international curriculum advantages.
Smartious students compete successfully for places at the Group of Eight and at universities worldwide. Cambridge A-Level results convert directly to ATAR equivalents through state admissions centres — and often earn advanced standing credit at Australian universities.
Smartious is priced in USD with global pricing consistency — the same fees apply whether your child logs in from Sydney, Lagos, London or Nairobi. The AUD equivalent is shown alongside at approximately 1 USD = AUD 1.40. We accept Australian dollar payments via card, bank transfer or international wire.
Termly billing saves 5%. Annual billing saves 12%. One-time registration fee USD 38 (≈ AUD 53) applies on enrolment. 10% sibling discount on every additional child. AUD payments accepted via card, bank transfer or international wire.
Speak with our admissions team. We'll guide you through the right curriculum, exam pathway and enrolment process for your family.