Deferring or discontinuing study before end of course for Pensioner Education Supplement (PES) 102-07020060

A student who is currently in receipt of Pensioner Education Supplement (PES) advises they:

• intend to stop studying in the future
• have already stopped studying
• won’t continue in the same course in the next study period, or
• were a continuing student who was intending to start study in a new course in the next available study period but have changed their mind (including secondary school students who were commencing a new study level, for example, Year 10 to Year 11), see Customer will not commence full-time study

Is the Service Officer skilled in PES processing?

• Yes, go to Step 2
• No, create an open work item using Fast Note.
  Select Auto text, use Students, ABSTUDY & Apprentices > Pensioner Education Supplement > PES Study Update Action DOC
  Procedure ends here

Has the student ceased studying due to a medical condition?

• Yes, see Pensioner Education Supplement (PES) student becomes incapacitated. Procedure ends here
• No, go to Step 3

Has the customer started an Australian Apprenticeship?

• Yes, investigate entitlement to ABSTUDY, Austudy or YA as an Australian Apprentice, see Existing customer starts an Australian Apprenticeship. Procedure ends here
• No, go to Step 4

Is the student studying part-time?

• Yes, go to Step 5
• No, and for all customers who have stopped studying, see Table 2 > Step 1

Is the customer studying at a university, other than Bond University or Open Universities Australia, which has a period of enrolment of a year?

• Yes, go to Step 6
• No, go to Step 9

If a customer is studying at a university (other than Bond University or Open Universities Australia) which has a period of enrolment of a year, they may be able to take advantage of the aggregation of study load rules, see Aggregation of study load

Could the student be considered to be meeting their study load requirements if their study load is aggregated over the full academic year?

• Yes, go to Step 7
• No, go to Step 9

Update the student and course end dates in either:

• Select the Study and Scholarship Details workflow from the Task Selector
• Select Customer Study Details, select Start
• Select Edit on the Change Education Details screen and update as required
• Student End Date field
• Course End Date field
• Select Save
• Select Assess and 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
• Go to Next action (below)

• select the course of study from the Education Course History (EDCH) screen
• correct the student and course end dates as required
• complete the footer details and press [Enter]
• finalise activity on the Assessment Results (AR) screen
• record information regarding the decision and the aggregation of study load on a DOC

Note: Only the course name is recorded in the Comments: field. Text in the Comments: field displays to customers when using the 'Manage study details' online Service. Any additional comments must be recorded on a DOC

Go to Next action (below)

• Was the student assessed as full-time under the aggregation of study load rules based on an intention to enrol into a future study period and they:
• enrol in an approved course of study, and
• commenced by the second Friday, and
• enrolled in the required workload in the new study period?

• Yes, customer will remain qualified as a full-time student. Update the customer's record and record details of any action on a Note/DOC. Procedure ends here
• No, go to Step 8

Student has either not commenced by the second Friday, not enrolled at all, or have not enrolled in the required study load, in the next study period, to be considered full-time under the aggregation of study load rules.

If the customer has been assessed as a full-time student based on a future workload that they are intending to enrol in, they must start the course by the second Friday after the course commences in that study period.

If they do not, they are only considered to be a full-time student (under the aggregation rules) until the first date that they became aware they would not be enrolling or commencing by the second Friday.

This date is normally taken to be the earlier of:

• the date the student contacted Services Australia, or
• the day before the course was expected to commence

See Table 2 > Step 5.

For information on how to determine if the PES student qualifies for a study load concession and update their record, see:

• Assessing eligibility for 66% concessional study load for PES
• Assessing eligibility for 25% concessional study load for PES

Does the PES student qualify for a study load concession?

• Yes, make the required updates
• No, see Table 2 > Step 1

Is the Enrolment Verification field displaying as VER (enrolment verified) on the Customer Study Details (EDC) screen in Process Direct or Education Course Detail (EDC) screen in Customer First?

• Yes, go to Step 4
• No,
• and proof of enrolment (POE) has not been requested, go to Step 2
• and POE has been requested, go to Step 3

End the course of study on the EDC screen by updating the Student End Date with the date the customer advised was their last date of attendance.

Tell the customer that proof of enrolment will still need to be supplied within 14 days or their Pensioner Education Supplement entitlement will be reassessed based on them not enrolling in the course of study at all.

Request POE. See Requesting information (CLK). Procedure ends here.

• Yes, go to Step 4
• No, customer is not eligible for payments for the course. See Tabe 3 in Customer will not commence full-time study

Payment will be cancelled as the customer is no longer undertaking qualifying study for PES.

The date of effect (DOE) of the cancellation will depend on whether the customer met their notification provisions and when the update is being actioned. Refer to General notification provisions for further information regarding the correct notification period for the customer's circumstances.

Did the student advise that they were ceasing study within their notification period (if applicable)?

• Yes, go to Step 5
• No, the DOE is the date the customer ceased study. Go to Step 9

PES student has contacted Services Australia within 14 days of the date of event and the date the record is being updated is:

• in the same entitlement period in which the customer ceased study, or an earlier period for notification of future events, go to Step 6
• in the entitlement period following the entitlement period in which the customer ceased study, go to Step 7
• after the entitlement period following the entitlement period in which the customer ceased study, go to Step 8

See Notification Handler (NOHL) for more information.

Customer has contacted within 14 days of the date of event (DOV) and:

• the date the record is being updated is in the same entitlement period as the DOV
• the DOE is the date the customer ceased study. Go to Step 9.

Customer has contacted within 14 days of the date of event DOV and

• the date the change of circumstances is being updated is in the entitlement period following the entitlement period in which the customer ceased study
• the DOE is the Entitlement Period Start Date (EPSD) of the period following the period in which the event occurred. Go to Step 9.

Customer has contacted within 14 days of the DOV and

• the date the change in circumstances is being updated is after the entitlement period following the entitlement period in which the customer ceased study
• The DOE is the day after the end of the 14-day notification period. Go to Step 9.

To update in:

• On the EDC screen change the Student End Date to the day before the DOE
• Go to the Benefit Action (BA) screen. Select Add on the Create Benefit Action table and key fields:
• Benefit Type Code from the dropdown menu, select Pensioner Education Supplement: EPF
• Benefit Action: CAN - CANCEL
• Reason: NAS - NOT A STUDENT
• Date of Effect: as the DOE determined in step 4, 6, 7 or 8
• Select Save
• Key:
• Receipt Date
• Channel
• Service Reason: EPF
• Select Save
• Select Assess and address any errors/warnings on the Errors (SWE) screen
• Select Assess
• Select Finish and record the details of the update in the finalisation notes including:
• the actual date the student ceased studies
• the date the student end date has been coded
• the reason it has been changed is due to the notification rules (where appropriate)
• Select Finalise
• Procedure ends here

• Key ISS in the Sys: field
• Key SVPES in the Nxt field
• On the EDC screen change the Student End Date to the day before the DOE
• On the BA screen, key fields:
• Service Reason: EPF for PES
• Action: CAN
• Reason: NAS - not a student
• Effect Date: as the DOE determined in step 4, 6, 7 or 8
• Complete the activity on the Assessment Results (AR) screen.
• Record on a DOC the:
• the actual date the student ceased studies
• the date the student end date has been coded
• the reason it has been changed is due to the notification rules (where appropriate)
• Procedure ends here