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Student intending to undertake a course at honours level 010-07010190

This document outlines how to define honours study and assist with determining if the customer is eligible for a student payment for their honours study..

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Initial checks when a customer advises they are studying at honours level

Update the honours study

Initial checks when a customer advises they are studying at honours level

Table 1

Step	Action
1	Previous study at bachelor level Has the customer undertaken any other bachelor level study, not including the course which is the prerequisite for the intended honours course? Yes, see Table 2 No, for: ABSTUDY, see Table 2 YAL, go to Step 2
2	Study completed in minimum time Did the customer complete their bachelor level study in the minimum time? Yes, see Table 2 > Step 4 No, assess previous bachelor level study to determine whether the customer is making satisfactory progress. See Table 2

Update the honours study

Table 2

Step	Action
1	Eligible to undertake honours A customer may be eligible to be paid to undertake the honours course where: the honours course is associated with their bachelor degree the bachelor degree is an approved course, and there are no allowable time issues Is the customer currently in receipt of a student payment? Yes, go to Step 3 No, go to Step 2
2	Customer not in receipt of a payment for students Customers under 22 years of age receiving Youth Allowance (YA) (job seeker) can transfer to YA (student), without a new claim. See Youth Allowance (YA) job seeker or Australian Apprentice returning to full-time study. All other customers must lodge a new claim. A customer currently receiving payment as a job seeker will remain a job seeker until they meet study requirements, see: Satisfying the activity test for customers who are intending to study for Austudy Satisfying the full-time study requirements for customers intending to study for Youth Allowance (YA) If updating study details for a new claim or a change of activity from YA (job seeker) to YA (student), go to Step 3. Otherwise, procedure ends here until a new claim is lodged.
3	Determine allowable time issues To determine if there are allowable time issues, review the information available for previous study details on: the Customer Study Details (EDC) screen in Process Direct or the Education Course Details (EDC) screen in Customer First academic transcripts provided by the customer previous study details in a new claim (YA/Austudy only) Assess allowable time before returning to this process. For more information, see: Assessing satisfactory progress for Youth Allowance (YA) tertiary students Assessing satisfactory progress for tertiary students for Austudy Determining progress and duration of assistance for ABSTUDY Assessing satisfactory progress and allowable time for tertiary students for Pensioner Education Supplement (PES) If there are no allowable time issues and the customer is eligible to be paid to undertake the honours course, go to Step 4. If the customer has met or exceeded their allowable time, the customer is not eligible to be paid a student payment to do the honours course. Procedure ends here.
4	Determine updates required An honours course is considered to be an extension of the pre-requisite course, only where the pre-requisite course is specified and related to the honours. For example, Honours in Arts, where completion of a Bachelor of Arts at the same education provider is specified as a mandatory entry requirement to the Honours in Arts course. Where the pre-requisite course for the honours is any undergraduate study (or other approved study), the honours is not considered to be an extension of that pre-requisite study. Go to Step 6, if the student is: not undertaking their honours study immediately following the prerequisite course at the same education provider, or studying an honours course that is not directly related to the prerequisite course If the student: has or will complete a course which is specified as a pre-requisite course will undertake the honours course immediately following completion of the pre-requisite course is doing the honours course at the same education provider as the prerequisite course, and the prerequisite bachelor component is: recorded on the EDC/EDCH screen, extend that study. Go to Step 5 not recorded on the EDC/EDCH screen, or the customer has been studying part-time and the study recorded on EDC is no longer current, a new entry is required. Go to Step 7
5	Update honours – no break in study or change in provider, study on EDC Code the honours study as a continuation of the prerequisite study. To update in: Process Direct Go to the EDC screen. Select the Edit icon on the current line and complete the following fields on the Change Education Details screen: Course Level: will remain as the current bachelor course level. See Defining levels of tertiary study Allowable Time End Date: for: ABSTUDY, see Determining progress and duration of assistance for ABSTUDY All other payments, see Allowable Time End Date Course End Date: end of duration of combined prerequisite and honours study Student End Date: end of duration of combined prerequisite and honours study Course Id: the pre-requisite course ID, or if the customer is currently studying the Honours component, or will commence study in the honours component in the next study period, record the honours course ID Course Name: add with Honours after the current course title To complete the activity: Select Save Key the Receipt Date, Channel and Service Reason. Note: if the system does not select a default Service Reason, select the most relevant Service Reason for the update Select Save Select Assess. Address any errors/warnings on the Errors (SWE) screen Select Assess Select Finish. Record details of the update Select Finalise Procedure ends here. Customer First Go to the EDCH screen. Select the current student line and complete the following fields on the EDC screen: Course Level: will remain as the current bachelor course level. See Defining levels of tertiary study Allowable Time End Date: ABSTUDY, see Determining progress and duration of assistance for ABSTUDY all other payments, see Allowable Time End Date Inst Course End Date: end of duration of combined prerequisite and honours study Student End Date: end of duration of combined prerequisite and honours study Institution Course Code: the prerequisite course ID, or if the customer is currently studying the honours component, or will commence study in the honours component in the next study period, record the honours course ID Comments: add with Honours after the current course title Receipt Date and Source: as appropriate Action: ‘C’hange Select Continue and finalise the activity via the Assessment Results (AR) screen. Record details on a DOC. Procedure ends here.
6	Updating standalone honours Update honours study on a new EDC line if the customer: is not undertaking their honours study immediately following the prerequisite course at the same education provider, or is studying an honours course that is not directly related to the prerequisite course For more details, see Coding new study details and Coding ABSTUDY education details. Update the Course level on the EDC screen, as: HGA where the prerequisite bachelor degree is a Level A course, or HGB, where the prerequisite bachelor degree is a Level B course. For more details, see Defining levels of tertiary study Finalise the activity: In Process Direct: Select Assess. Address any errors/warnings on the Errors (SWE) screen Select Assess Select Finish. Record details of the update Select Finalise In Customer First: Go to the Assessment Results (AR) screen Record details on a DOC Procedures ends here.
7	Update honours – no break in study or change in provider, no current study on EDC YA/Austudy/PES For more details, see Coding new study details. On the EDC screen, update the: Course level as: TGA where the prerequisite bachelor degree is a Level A course, or TGB where the prerequisite bachelor degree is a Level B course. For more details, see Defining levels of tertiary study Course Start Date and the Student Start Date as the beginning of the prerequisite course Finalise the activity: In Process Direct: Select Assess. Address any errors/warnings on the Errors (SWE) screen Select Assess. Check outcome on the Entitlement (ELD) screen Select Finish. Record details of the update Select Finalise In Customer First: Go to the Assessment Results (AR) screen Record details on a DOC Procedure ends here. ABSTUDY On the EDC screen, update the: Course level as: TGA where the prerequisite bachelor degree is a Level A course, or TGB where the prerequisite bachelor degree is a Level B course. For more details, see Defining levels of tertiary study Course Start Date and the Student Start Date and the first day of their studies is: between 1 January and 31 March, code 1 January between 1 July and 31 July, code 1 July any other date, code the course start date To complete the remaining fields and activity, see Coding ABSTUDY education details. Procedure ends here.