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.

In some cases, the student may be required to enter into a Youth Allowance Activity Agreement.

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, the student cannot have fallen behind in their studies. Progress is automatically satisfactory and no assessment needs to be made. Record details on a DOC. Procedure ends here

Has the customer successfully completed a course at the same level as their current course?

• Yes, a completed course does not affect the customer's satisfactory progress. Progress is automatically satisfactory and no assessment needs to be made. Record details on a DOC. Procedure ends here
• No, go to Step 3

If the customer has withdrawn from or failed a previous course at the same level, assess if this was due to exceptional circumstances and obtain evidence of this. For further information, see Disregarding previous study for Youth Allowance (YA) before returning to this process.

Startup Year Course + Read more ...

Withdrew from first course + Read more ...

Failed first course + Read more ...

Withdrew from second course + Read more ...

Failed second course + Read more ...

Contact a Local Peer Support staff member for assistance with complex allowable time and satisfactory progress assessments.

Students are asked to provide previous study details in the online claim. This can be used to determine the time allowed to complete the course. To access this information, go to the Claim Overview in Process Direct.

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

Before requesting academic transcripts, the following must be considered:

• customer cannot explain their previous study
• previous study assessment is complex, or
• customer studied part-time in their current course and assessment is required for the remaining allowable time for their current course. This is only required if the responses in the claim show that the customer will not complete the course in the normal allowable time period

Based on the information provided, is it clear the customer:

• can be granted now, and a transcript requested post-grant?
• does not have any remaining allowable time, and must be rejected?

Where the customer indicates they will continue to study beyond their allowable time end date:

• grant the payment coding an Allowable Time End Date:
• in Process Direct on the Customer Study Details (EDC) screen
• in Customer First on the Education Course Details (EDC) screen, and
• where appropriate, request a transcript after finalising the claim

If considering requesting a transcript, attempt to call the customer and request them to provide enough verbal information to make a reasonable assessment for allowable time/aggregation of study.

When calculating the amount of time spent studying (including any non-compulsory study periods) at the same tertiary level as the current course:

• Students are considered to have undertaken 100% of the study load for a semester 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 on the basis of the percentage of a year's full-time study
• All study periods included in a study load aggregation assessment are counted as full time
• Completed courses are counted as the lesser of:
• the normal length of the course (minimum time), or
• the time it took to complete the course
• Do not include Startup Year Courses in allowable time assessments where the course is a stand-alone course. For more information, see Startup Year Courses

To calculate the student’s previous study at the same level:

• Divide the previous study into its academic periods (for example, semesters, years)
• Determine whether any of this study can be disregarded
• Assess each period to determine what percentage of a full year's study it represents
• 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
• Add together each individual period of study to get the total amount of study undertaken by using the study periods' percentages

Go to Step 5.

To determine the time allowed to complete the course for the student’s current course, see Determining allowable time/reasonable time for a course of study.

Go to Step 6.

Compare the amount of the customer’s previous study at the same level (determined in Step 4) with the time allowed to complete their current course (determined in Step 5).

For new claim lodgements, the claim is to be rejected if the customer has exceeded allowable time before any of the following dates:

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

If the customer’s total previous study at the same level is:

• Greater than the allowable time, go to Step 7
• Less than or equal to the allowable time, go to Step 8

As 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 new claim must be rejected Allowable Time Reached (ATR), see Table 2

Currently receiving Youth Allowance (YA)

For customers currently receiving YA that are not making satisfactory progress:

• determine the Allowable Time End Date using the calculation at Step 7 and information on Allowable Time End Date
• code the Allowable Time End Date on Education Details History (EDC/EDCH). The system will:
• suspend the payment SUS/ATR from the Allowable Time End Date + 1
• automatically cancel the payment after 13 weeks if the payment has not been restored
• identify if the customer is eligible for any other income support payment

If the customer wants to test their eligibility for JobSeeker Payment (JSP) and Youth Allowance (YA) is still suspended for Allowable Time Reached SUS/ATR status, code the NES screen:

• Event Date: date the payment was suspended (ATR + 1)
• Student Status: Not a student (NST)
• Educ Level Attained: update with the highest qualification attained
• Year12/Equiv Verified: code Not verified (NVE), or leave the current verification status if previously coded

In Process Direct or Customer First on the Education Details History (EDC/EDCH) screen, update:

• Student End Date: to match the Allowable Time End Date
• within the same activity, cancel the payment via the Benefit Action (BA) screen
• Date of event: matches the date used to suspend AUS
• Reason code: ATR. See Cancellation of Austudy or Youth Allowance (YA) students and Australian Apprentices

Where JSP is granted and the customer is still undertaking study, the study may be included as a mutual obligation requirement. This is at the discretion of the Employment Services Provider, tell the customer to contact them to discuss further.

Go to Step 9

The customer is making satisfactory progress as the total previous study for the course is less than or equal to the allowable time.

The result of the calculation at Step 5 indicates how much longer the customer may be eligible to receive payments for in the current course. The Resources page has more information.

Use this calculation and Allowable Time End Date to determine the correct date to enter or update in Allowable Time End Date in Process Direct on the Customer Study Details (EDC) screen or in Customer First on the Education Course Details (EDC).

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

Tell the customer the end date for the time allowed to complete the course.

• make a genuine attempt to contact the customer to tell them the allowable time decision
• send a Youth Allowance Student Satisfactory Progress Advice letter to the customer and, if applicable, to their correspondence nominee
• be aware that Services Australia has endorsed the latest Q888 letter version for use, do not use locally produced letters. For more details, see Students and trainees for the correct wording required

Record the decision:

• Use Fast Note - select Auto Text > Students, ABSTUDY & Apprentices > Update > Allowable Time Assessment, or
• Type 'Allowable' into Search and Select Allowable Time Assessment from the available menu options
• Select the Display on Access (DOA) DOC button, if not already ticked. This automatically populates the DOA DOC field with the correct reason of 'SCC', which does not require an expiration date. See Creating, reviewing and deleting documents (including Fast Notes and DOA DOCs)

Make sure the DOC includes:

• the name, academic level and allowable time of the student's current course
• a summary of the student's previous study, semester by semester (including all other levels of study if this is available - although it will 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 of the previous study, and
• the period of payability (if any) that still remains

Procedure ends here.

Youth Allowance cannot be paid for any further study at the same level when the student has reached the end of the time allowed to complete the course.

Reject the claim, Allowable Time Reached REJ/ATR

Code the Allowable Time End Date for a student that is:

• starting a new course as the day before the Course Start Date
• continuing study as the last day of the study period that the customer met allowable time

The error E949NS - Allowable Time can't be before Inst Course Start Date occurs if the Allowable Time End Date is before the Course Start Date.

Did the error E949NS - Allowable Time can't be before Inst Course Start Date display?

• Yes, go to Step 2
• No, go to Step 4

Check if the customer:

• has met allowable time at the date of claim submission
• is a continuing student
• is commencing a new course, and
• has lodged their claim prior to the course start date

Do all of the above apply to the customer and E949NS is occurring?

• Yes, go to Step 3
• No, on the EDC screen key:
• Course Start Date: one day before actual course start date
• Student Start Date: course start date
• Allowable Time End Date: one day before actual course start date
• Go to Step 4

On the EDC screen key:

• Course Start Date: one day before the Participation Status End Date (PSED)
• Student Start Date: the actual course start date
• Allowable Time End Date: one day before the PSED

Once all details have been updated the system will automatically reject the claim. Return to SWE, the Message Log displays any errors. All errors must be fixed before assessing the claim. For help, see Using Digital Assistant Roxy in Process Direct

• Select: Assess, check the outcome is correct on the ELD screen
• Select: Finish
• Record details in the finalisation DOC
• Select: Finalise
• If the claim has not auto generated a DOC (for an abridged claim or where the claim is both granted and cancelled in the same activity), create a DOC. See Online Document Recording (ODR)

Record the decision:

• Use Fast Note - select Auto Text, use Students, ABSTUDY & Apprentices > Update > Allowable Time Assessment, or
• Search: Allowable,
• Select Allowable Time Assessment
• Select the Display on Access (DOA) DOC button, if not already ticked. This automatically populates the DOA DOC field with the reason SCC, which does not require an expiration date. See Creating, reviewing and deleting documents (including Fast Notes and DOA DOCs)

The DOC must include:

• the student's name, academic level and allowable time of the student's current course
• a summary of the student's previous study, semester by semester. Include all other levels of study if available. (This is useful if the customer applies for another course under another payment and is not counted in the assessment)
• details of any study that has been disregarded and the reasons for disregarding the study
• the total amount of time used for the previous study

Procedure ends here