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Eligibility periods for full year courses of study for ABSTUDY, ABSTUDY Pensioner Education Supplement (PES) and PES 010-02080110

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This document outlines the period that a student, doing a full year course, may be eligible for ABSTUDY, ABSTUDY Pensioner Education Supplement (PES) or PES entitlement.

Period of eligibility

The significance of doing a full year course relates to the period of eligibility for ABSTUDY PES and PES. A student doing a short course (other than an articulated short course or a late starting course normally can only be paid from the course start date. A student doing a full year course, however, may be payable before the course starts.

ABSTUDY PES or PES students may be paid until 31 December if:

  • they complete their course after 15 September, and
  • the course is a full year or late starting course

A 'full year course' goes for more than 30 weeks (including vacations) and starts between either 1 January and 31 March (inclusive) or 1 July and 31 July (inclusive).

A course of 30 weeks or less is a short course, while a course lasting more than 30 weeks that starts outside the dates above is a late starting course. Customers completing a short course will only be paid for the duration of the course.

For more information on late starting courses for:

Note: this procedure is not applicable for Australian Apprentice customers.

Calculating the start day for Pensioner Education Supplement (PES) and ABSTUDY PES

Start and closing date for ABSTUDY claims

Claiming ABSTUDY

Initial contact with students claiming Pensioner Education Supplement (PES) and ABSTUDY PES

Late commencement of course for ABSTUDY, ABSTUDY Pensioner Education Supplement (PES), Austudy, PES, and Youth Allowance (YA)

Calculating the start day for Austudy and Youth Allowance (YA) students and Australian Apprentices claims