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

Satisfactory progress is measured against the student’s current course of study. This can be impacted by previous study at the same study level.

Has the student undertaken previous study in their current course or in another course of study at the same level?

• Yes, go to Step 2
• No, a satisfactory progress assessment is not required. Record details on a DOC. Procedure ends here

If the student successfully completed a previous course at the same level as their current course, disregard the study in the completed course.

Has the student previously failed or withdrawn from another course at the same level as their current course?

• Yes, go to Step 3
• No, go to Step 4

Incomplete study in a previous course at the same level may be disregarded in some circumstances. Select from below options based on the student's circumstances.

Disregard previous study in the course if the student has previously failed or withdrawn from a stand-alone Startup Year Course. The student is only eligible for payment for a Startup Year Course if they are entitled to a STARTUP-HELP loan. Go to Step 4.

If the student withdrew due to special circumstances beyond their control, the study in the previous course can be disregarded. Evidence of the special circumstances is required. If there were no special circumstances, the student must enter into a Youth Allowance Activity Agreement (YAAA) with an obligation to complete the second course within the allowable time. If the student enters into a YAAA, study in the first course is disregarded. Go to Step 4.

If the student fails their first course and wants to do another course at the same level, they are considered to be making satisfactory progress if they complete the second course within the allowable time. Go to Step 4.

The student must enter into an Activity Agreement with an obligation to complete the course within the allowable time if they:

• have withdrawn from a previous course, and
• want to undertake a third or subsequent course at the same level

If the student enters into a YAAA, study in both previous courses is disregarded. Go to Step 4.

A student can be granted payment to undertake a third course at the same level if:

• they have failed the second course, and
• the failure was because of special circumstances beyond their control

If the student is undertaking a third or subsequent course and has not been affected by reasons beyond their control, they are not deemed to be making satisfactory progress. These students are required to test their eligibility as a job seeker and determine if their study can form part of their mutual obligation requirements. Go to Step 4.

Contact Local Peer Support for help with complex allowable time and satisfactory progress assessments.

Do not use the TCSIACT screen to determine current or prior payment qualification, including when assessing allowable time, satisfactory progress or appeals. Only use the TCSIACT screen to support customer enquiries relating to Student Payment Reviews.

Students are asked to provide previous 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 indicates they will continue to study beyond their allowable time end date:

• Code an Allowable Time End Date in Process Direct on the Customer Study Details (EDC) screen, and
• where appropriate, request a transcript after assessing and finalising the claim

If considering requesting a transcript, attempt to call the customer to gather information verbally to make a reasonable assessment of allowable time. See Requesting information (CLK).

Before requesting academic transcripts, consider if the:

• student 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 their remaining allowable time. This is only required if the customer will not complete the course within the normal allowable time

Can the student's allowable time be assessed now and transcripts requested after finalising the transaction?

• Yes, go to Step 5
• No, request further information. Procedure ends here until documents returned

When assessing the amount of time spent studying at the same tertiary level as the current course, consider the following:

• Students are considered to have undertaken 100% of the study load for a study period or year if they studied at least 75% (or 66% if concession was granted) of the normal amount of full-time study
• Part-time study is calculated based on the percentage of a year's full-time study. For more information on academic periods, see the Resources page
• 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
• Non-compulsory study periods are included

To calculate the customer's previous study at the same level:

• divide the previous study into its academic periods (for example, semesters, years)
• disregard study not to be used in the assessment
• assess each period to determine what percentage of a full year's study it represents
• add all the individual study periods together to get the total amount of full-time study the student has undertaken by using the study periods' percentages

For scenarios, see the Resources page.

Go to Step 7.

Determine the allowable time to complete the current course.

YA students are payable until they have met the allowable time for their course.

Compare the amount of previous study at the same level with the allowable time to complete the current course.

Is the customer’s total previous study at the same level greater than or equal to the allowable time?

• Yes, go to Step 8
• No, go to Step 10

The student is not considered to be making satisfactory progress. They cannot be paid YA as a full-time student for any further study at this level.

New claims

The claim is to be rejected Allowable Time Reached (ATR) if the customer reaches the allowable time before any of the following dates:

• date of claim
• student start date, or
• course start date

See Table 2.

Currently receiving YA

• Code the Allowable Time End Date
• Key the Allowable Time End Date on the EDC screen using the date the customer has met their allowable time. This will:
  • suspend (SUS) the payment Allowable Time Reached (ATR) from the Allowable Time End Date + 1
  • cancel YA after 13 weeks if the payment is not restored

Does the customer want to test eligibility for another income support payment after payment is suspended?

• Yes, go to Step 9
• No, go to Step 11

If the customer requires further financial assistance:

• refer them to the Payment and Service finder on the Services Australia website, see Resources for a link
• tell them to lodge a claim using online services via myGov
• see Contact in relation to an intended claim (CLK)

If the customer wants to test their eligibility for JobSeeker Payment (JSP) and YA is SUS/ATR, additional coding is required.

On the:

• Newstart Education Status (NES) screen, key:
  • Event Date: date the payment was suspended ATR
  • Student Status: Not a Student (NST)
  • Education Level Attained: the highest qualification attained
  • Year12/Equiv Verified: Not verified (NVE), or leave the current verification status if previously coded
• EDC screen, update the Student End Date to match the Allowable Time End Date
• Benefit Action (BA) screen, cancel the YA:
  • Date of effect: matching the date YAL is SUS/ATR
  • Reason: ATR
    For coding instructions, see Cancellation of Austudy or Youth Allowance (YA) students and Australian Apprentices

Go to Step 11.

The student is making satisfactory progress as the total previous study is less than the allowable time.

If payment has been suspended Allowable Time Reached (ATR) and the satisfactory progress assessment shows that the customer remains entitled, restore the payment.

Will the student reach their Allowable Time End Date on or before reaching their current course or student end date?

• Yes, code the Allowable Time End Date, go to Step 11
• No, do not code the Allowable Time End Date field. Go to Step 12

When updates to the customer’s record are complete, advise the customer of when the allowable time to complete their current course ends/ended.

Note: if the activity has been selected for QMA, do not issue the Q888. Quality Management Officers (QMO) completing the update as part of a QMA check must issue the Q888 once the activity is finalised.

Send a Youth Allowance Student Satisfactory Progress Advice Q888 letter to the customer and, if applicable, to their correspondence nominee.

Use Fast Note - select Auto Text, use Students, ABSTUDY & Apprentices > Update > Allowable Time Assessment.

The DOC must include:

• the name, academic level and allowable time of the current course
• a detailed summary of each study period for the student's previous study (including all other levels of study if this is available - while not be counted in this assessment it may be useful if the customer applies for another course under another payment)
• details of any study that has been disregarded and the reasons for disregarding the study
• the total amount of previous study included in the assessment
• the period of payability that still remains

Procedure ends here.