Assessing satisfactory progress and allowable time for tertiary students for Pensioner Education Supplement (PES) 010-05110050

Students will not always maintain a steady workload for the duration of a long course. A full-time student may choose to do some of the course on a part-time basis and vice versa. If possible, look at each section of the course separately.

Most courses are divided into academic periods. The standard divisions are:

• whole years
• semesters (2 periods per year), or
• trimesters (3 periods per year)

Note: some courses (particularly those offered by private providers) do not have any divisions. These types of courses often have a rolling start date (for example, the course starts any Monday) and will finish a set number of weeks later. In these cases, look at the course as a whole.

Where study loads for study periods are added together to satisfy full-time study load requirements, count these periods as full-time when assessing satisfactory progress.

For example, a student is part-time (0.250 EFTSL) in semester one and full-time (0.500 EFTSL) in semester 2. Aggregation assessment is completed and the customer is paid as a full-time student for both semesters. This equals 0.750 EFSTL, allowing the customer to meet the satisfactory progress rules as they have been undertaking an aggregated full time study load over the year.

The general rule for PES is that a student can continue to be paid up to the point at which they exceed the allowable time for the course.

For example, a student in a 3 year bachelor degree who has already completed 4 years of study at that level would be expected to have completed the course. The delay in completing the course is not always the fault of the student, however. For this reason, allowance is made to disregard some, or all, earlier study in certain circumstances.

The following periods of study can be disregarded:

• a failed year (or part of a year) if failure was due to illness or other circumstances beyond the control of the student
• time spent in a course that has been permanently discontinued because of circumstances beyond the control of the student
• time spent studying in a course that has been completed but which, because of illness, the customer cannot use in any of the trades or professions for which the course is appropriate
• study in a course which was not at the time approved for a Commonwealth student income support scheme
• study for which the student could not have been paid income support due to academic progress rules
• study in a course which is the normal prerequisite for the current course
• any study in a Vocational Education and Training (VET) course where the normal length of the course is one year or less
• study undertaken in a course more than 10 years ago unless the course was subsequently completed less than 10 years ago
• study at a foreign institution (unless it counts towards an approved Australian course)
• study from which the student withdrew if the institution did not count that withdrawal as a failure

For current full-time students, only take the normal minimum duration of a completed course into account (even if they actually studied for longer).

Therefore, courses completed previously are counted as the lesser of:

• minimum time or
• the actual time spent

Example 1: David completed a 3 year Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree over 4.5 years full-time. There was no particular reason for this or extenuating circumstances and none of the study can be disregarded. If David applies for another course at the Bachelor level, count the BA as 3 years of previous study, as it is the lesser of minimum time and actual time spent.

Example 2: Wendy is a highly motivated student who completed a BA in 2.5 years by undertaking more than the normal study load each semester. If Wendy applies for another course at the Bachelor level, count the BA as 2.5 years of previous study.

For current concessional students, count the actual time the course took to complete.

A student who is undertaking at least 75% of the normal study load (or 66% if a study load concession has been granted) in a period, is considered to be a full-time student for payment purposes. They would also be counted as a full-time student for previous study calculations. For example, a study load of 4 of the normal 5 subjects in a semester is counted as 50% of the year's study load (not 40%).

To calculate the total amount of study for multiple academic periods, measure each period as a percentage of a whole academic year. Therefore, a semester's full-time study load would equal 50% of a year, a trimester's 33.3% and so on.

If the previous study was undertaken:

• part-time, use the appropriate fraction. For example, a student undertaking 2 subjects out of the usual 4 in a semester, would equal 25% of a full year's study
• as 25% concessional study load, treat the previous study as equal to the minimum amount of time that a full-time student would have taken to complete the previous study. For example, 4 years of 25% study load equals one year of full-time study

Example: A student completed 4 years as a 25% concessional study-load student and is now a full-time student. Count their previous study as one year because this is how long a full-time student would have taken to complete the same study.

Note: if a customer overloads in a semester or year, it is counted as 50% (0.5) or 100% (1.0) respectively, and not the overloaded figure. For example, if a customer undertook 125% of the normal full-time workload in a year, count it as 100% (1.0) of workload.

The allowable time is twice the length of time it would take a full-time student to complete the current course being studied.

Treat and count any previous study as full years, regardless of whether PES was paid or if the study was undertaken as:

• a 25% concessional study load
• a full-time study load, or
• a 66% concessional study load

Count any previous period of study with less than 25% study load on a pro-rata basis as the appropriate percentage study load.

Explanation: PES is payable for twice the length of time it would take a full-time student to complete the current course being studied. If the current course is 3 years full-time, PES is payable for 6 years. Subtract any time previously undertaken at the same level from the 6 years. It is not relevant whether the previous study was full-time or 25% concessional or whether PES was paid. .A student will continue to qualify for PES until they have exceeded their allowable time.

Example: A 25% concessional study-load student beginning a 3 year course had previously undertaken 3 years study at the same level, some as a 25% concessional study-load student, some as a full-time student. PES was paid only for one year. Count the 3 past years study as 3 years so the student can be paid PES for another 3 years if they continue as a 25% concessional study-load student. They will continue to qualify for PES until they exceed their allowable time. They can therefore be paid for an additional study period after their allowable time has been reached.

Use the result of the calculation of satisfactory progress to determine when allowable time is expected to end and entitlement cease.

Satisfactory progress is determined at the relevant date. This means that a student who has any allowable time remaining (however little) may be paid until the end of that study period. If there would still be allowable time remaining at that point, payment could continue.

Example: Akiko is starting a 2 year TAFE course, which would have allowable time of 2.5 years (minimum time plus 6 months). The course is divided into trimesters. Akiko has undertaken previous study at this level (Level C) which has been assessed as 1.5 years. At enrolment day of the first year, the time already spent in study at the same level is under allowable time and so Akiko is eligible for payment for the first year of study. After a full year's study, the time spent in study at this level would have reached 2.5 years. At this point Akiko has reached but not exceeded the allowable time so can be paid to the start of the next study period when the allowable time is exceeded.

Centrelink can inform Akiko when initially applying that the payments would not continue to the end of the course.