Assessing satisfactory progress for Youth Allowance (YA) tertiary students 010-06070070

Tertiary student’s studying full-time must be making satisfactory progress towards completing their course to satisfy study requirements. An assessment of satisfactory progress determines if the student should have finished their current course within the allowable time to complete the course. Students who have not reached or exceeded the allowable time, for that course, are generally considered to be making satisfactory progress to be paid YA as a full-time student for their current course.

Note: the satisfactory progress rules in this procedure are for YA only. For Austudy requirements, see Assessing satisfactory progress for tertiary students for Austudy.

When assessing satisfactory progress in a course, the assessment is only about the time spent in the student’s current course. Previous study in other courses of the same level can affect the student's qualification, however is not counted as time spent studying in their current course.

A student may not have completed their course within the allowable time, due to circumstances beyond their control. In these cases, some or all of the earlier study may be disregarded. For further information, see Disregarding previous study for Youth Allowance (YA).

Students may vary their workload throughout their course, choosing to study full-time for some of the course and part-time in other study periods. Each study period of the course should be assessed separately.

YA students are payable until they reach the allowable time for their course. The allowable time is based on the normal full-time duration of that course. See Determining allowable time/reasonable time for a course of study.

The allowable time is based on the normal duration of the combined course, if a tertiary student has:

• completed one course
• starts a second course, and
• the institution offers an approved award that combines the two courses

For further information, see Determining allowable time/reasonable time for a course of study. When the allowable time is based on the normal duration of the combined course, disregard the study undertaken in the first course.

For example, a student undertaking a Bachelor of Law, after completing a Bachelor of Arts at an institution that offers a combined Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Law. The student has the allowable time for the combined course (five and a half years) to complete the Bachelor of Law.

To determine whether a student is making satisfactory progress, the amount of previous study in the current course is calculated as a percentage of one year of full-time study, using the following information:

• all previous study in this course (including any non-compulsory study periods) is divided into its academic periods (for example, semesters, years)
• consider whether any of the previous study can be disregarded. For further information, see Disregarding previous study for Youth Allowance (YA)
• assess each academic period to determine the percentage of a full year's study that it represents. Where study load aggregation has been applied to satisfy full-time study requirements, all study periods included in the aggregation assessment are counted as full-time
• the percentages are totalled
• the time allowed to complete the course is determined
• previous study in the current course is compared with the allowable time to complete the course

If the student has not reached the allowable time to complete the course, they are considered to be making satisfactory progress. They can be paid YA as a full-time student for their current course until they reach the allowable time to complete the course.

If a tertiary student has previously studied at the same level as their current course, certain conditions may be imposed on their current course of study. If a student has successfully completed a course at the same level as their current course, the previous course is disregarded.

If a tertiary student failed or withdrew from a previous course at the same level, they can undertake a new course but may be required to enter into an activity agreement with an obligation to complete the current course within the allowable time for that course. The previous course is then disregarded.

If a tertiary student withdrew for a reason beyond their control, they can undertake a new course without entering into an activity agreement. See Disregarding previous study for Youth Allowance (YA).

Disregard previous study in the course, if a tertiary student failed or withdrew from a stand-alone Startup Year Course. Startup Year Courses do not impact satisfactory progress or contribute to allowable time calculations. This is because students can only receive up to 2 STARTUP-HELP loans. The loan limitation replaces the need to conduct an allowable time assessment for these courses.

Students may request an extension of allowable time as they were temporarily unable to study or reduced their study load below full-time due to COVID-19. In some situations, education providers supported students to avoid academic penalty by displaying failures as withdrawals on transcripts.

When assessing satisfactory progress, evidence regarding the impact of COVID-19 on the students study circumstances may be available on their record. Existing information about the customer being temporarily unable to study or having reduced their study load for the corresponding period may be sufficient to disregard withdrawals.

If there is no evidence on record, or the existing documentation is insufficient to make a clear determination, further evidence can be supplied or students may be able to enter into an activity agreement.

YA students can upload academic transcripts as part of an online claim but are not required to, as a compulsory task on the Next Steps page. Use the previous study information supplied in the claim for the satisfactory progress assessment and only request academic transcripts if they are required.