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Assessing satisfactory progress and allowable time for tertiary students for Pensioner Education Supplement (PES) 010-05110050

This document outlines how to assess satisfactory progress and allowable time for tertiary students for Pensioner Education Supplement (PES).

Assessing satisfactory progress for PES tertiary students

Step	Action
1	Assessing satisfactory progress Is the Service Officer skilled in PES processing? Yes, go to Step 2 No, create a Fast Note referral: Select Auto Text, use Students, ABSTUDY & Apprentices > Pensioner Education Supplement > PES Study Update Action DOC Select Confirm Update the required text in the template Select Continue Procedure ends here
2	Previous study at the same level Satisfactory progress is measured against the student's current course of study. This can be impacted by previous study at the same level. Has the tertiary student undertaken previous study in their current course or in another course at the same tertiary level? Yes, go to Step 3 No, satisfactory progress assessment is not required. Record details on a DOC. Procedure ends here
3	Considerations when assessing previous study undertaken at the same level Contact Local Peer Support (LPS) for help with complex allowable time and satisfactory progress assessments. New claims Students are asked to provide study details in the online claim. These details can be used to determine the remaining allowable time to complete the course. View the study details in the Claim Overview in Process Direct. Where the student has not reached their allowable time but indicate they will continue to study beyond their allowable time end date, transcripts can be requested after assessing and finalising the claim. Requesting transcripts If considering requesting a transcript, contact the customer to confirm the details verbally. Before requesting academic transcripts, consider whether the: customer cannot explain their previous study previous study assessment is complex online claim does not include enough study details customer studied part-time in their current course and an assessment is required for the remaining allowable time for their current course. This is only required if the responses in the claim show that the customer will not complete the course in the normal allowable time period Can the student's allowable time be assessed now and transcripts requested after finalising the transaction? Yes, go to Step 4 No, request further information. See Requesting information (CLK). Procedure ends here
4	Calculating previous study at the same level When calculating the amount of time spent studying at the same tertiary level as the current course, the method of calculation depends on whether the student: is currently undertaking full-time, 25% or 66% concessional study load, and was undertaking part-time, full-time, 25% or 66% concessional study load, in the previous study See Measuring time spent for tertiary student's attachment on the Resources page. Then: count completed courses as the lesser of minimum time or the actual time it took to complete the course divide previous study into its academic periods (for example, semesters, years). Most courses are divided into periods of study. In these cases, consider each period separately. Where the course is not divided, consider as a whole determine if any of this study can be disregarded for current full-time and 66% concessional study load students, assess each remaining period separately to determine what percentage of a full year's study it represents check if any study load concessions (25% or 66%) applied for any of the previous study. If the student is granted a 25% study load concession for the current study or was granted a concession for any of the previous study where study load aggregation has previously been applied to satisfy full-time study requirements, count all study periods included in the aggregation assessment as full-time total the academic period percentages by adding together each individual period of study to give the total amount of study undertaken For further information when calculating previous study, see the Resources page.
5	Compare previous total study with allowable time of current course To determine the allowable time for the student's current course, see Determining allowable time/reasonable time for a course of study, then return to this process. Go to Step 6.
6	Determine satisfactory progress Compare the amount of the customer's previous study at the same level with the allowable time for their current course. If the total previous study at the same level is: greater than the allowable time, go to Step 7 lesser than or equal to the allowable time, go to Step 8
7	Not making satisfactory progress As the total previous study is greater than the allowable time, the student has already exceeded allowable time. PES cannot be paid for any more study in this course. New claim Reject the claim, then return to this process and go to Step 12. Currently receiving PES Code the Allowable Time End Date. In Process Direct: Go to the Customer Study Details (EDC) screen Select Edit next to the course that requires updating On the Change Education Details screen, update the Allowable Time End Date field Select Save Update the fields: Receipt Date Channel Service Reason - if the system does not select a default Service Reason, select the most relevant Service Reason for the update Select Assess and address any errors/warnings Select Assess to go to the ELD screen Check the outcome is correct on the ELD screen Select Finish Record details in the finalisation Note Select Finalise In Customer First: Go to the Education Course History (EDCH) screen Select the EDC line that requires updating Select Continue Key the date in the Allowable Time End Date field Check the Comments field, ensure only the exact name of the course in which the student is enrolled is recorded. Note: do not leave this field blank and do not include any other text other than the course as these details will be displayed to customers when using the 'Manage study details' online service In the Source field, key the source details In the Receipt Date field, key the day the customer provided the information Go to the Action field, select 'CHG' or key 'C' to update the details recorded Select Continue Review the Assessment Results (AR) screen for the correct outcome Select Finalise Select Continue Note: completing this action will auto-cancel the customer's payment and issue a letter telling the customer of the cancellation. Go to Step 12.
8	Making satisfactory progress, allowable time remaining The student is making satisfactory progress as the total of the previous study for the course is less than or equal to the allowable time. Will the student reach their allowable time end date before reaching their current course or student end date? Yes, to update the Allowable Time End Date field, for: new claim processing, update the Allowable Time End Date within the new claim non-new claim processing in Process Direct, go to Step 9 non-new claim processing in Customer First, go to Step 10 No: the Allowable Time End Date field does not need to be coded record details on a DOC including allowable time calculations procedure ends here
9	Process Direct - code Allowable Time End Date field Go to the EDC screen: select Edit next to the course that requires updating on the Change Education Details screen, update the Allowable Time End Date field. The result of the calculation at Step 6 indicates when the customer will reach their allowable time, key this date in the Allowable Time End Date field select Save complete the Receipt Date and Channel select Save select Assess and address any errors/warnings select Assess select Finish record details of the update select Finalise to complete the transaction Go to Step 11.
10	Customer First - code Allowable Time End Date field Go to the EDC screen: select the EDC line that requires updating key the date in the Allowable Time End Date field select Continue check the Comments field, ensure only the exact name of the course in which the student is enrolled is recorded. Note: do not leave this field blank and do not include any other text other than the course as these details will be displayed to customers when using the 'Manage study details' online service in the Source field, key the source details in the Receipt Date field, key the day the customer provided the details go to the Action field, select 'CHG' or key 'C' to update the details recorded on the existing EDC entry select Continue review the Assessment Results (AR) screen for the correct outcome select Finalise
11	Advise the customer of the decision in writing As the customer's PES will cancel in the future as a result of the allowable time coding, they must be told about this in writing. Issue a Q888 letter to the customer and, if applicable, to their correspondence nominee. The following approved wording must be used in the free text paragraph: 'Following an assessment of your allowable time based on previous studies undertaken at the same level as the course you are doing now, it has been determined we can pay you Pensioner Education Supplement until XXXX. Your Pensioner Education Supplement will cancel on XXXX because you will have exceeded the maximum time allowed for your course.'
12	Record decision To record the decision: use Fast Note - select Auto Text, use Students, ABSTUDY & Apprentices > Update > Allowable Time Assessment select Allowable Time Assessment from the search results select Display on Access (DOA) DOC. See Creating, reviewing and deleting documents (including Fast Notes and DOA DOCs) The DOC must include: the name, academic level and allowable time of the student's current course a detailed summary of each study period for the student's previous study (including all other levels of study, if available. Although it will not be counted in this assessment, it may be useful if the student applies for another course under another payment type) details of any study that has been disregarded and the reasons for disregarding the study the total of the previous study, and the period of payability (if any) that remains Procedure ends here.