Determining allowable time/reasonable time for a course of study 010-07010030

Veronica commences a 3 year degree at the beginning of 2015 (subjects are semester based) which is expected to finish at the end of 2017. If no previous study at the same level impacts, the allowable time would be the minimum time for that course plus half an academic year: 3.5 years. However, at the 3.5 year point, allowable time has been reached but not exceeded. This means Veronica may be paid for another half academic year and up to the day before the next study period if she continues full time study past this point. In this example, Veronica's allowable time will be exceeded on the day before semester 1, 2019.

If Veronica was receiving Youth Allowance, she would not be able to exceed her allowable time and would only be payable until the end of the semester where she meets the 3.5 year point: the end of semester 1, 2018.

In February 2018, Jerry commences a tertiary course with a normal duration of one year. If there is no impacting previous study, this means his allowable time for the course is one year. Jerry is able to exceed the allowable time for an entire study period, and be paid during this time.

If the study period is defined as a half year, Jerry will cease to be payable from the day before the study period for the second half of 2019 commences (e.g. 1 July 2019).

If the study period is defined as a year, Jerry will be payable for the duration of 2019, and will cease to be payable on the day before the first day of study in 2020.

Alice is granted a Partner Bereavement undertaking full time study exemption. Alice deferred her studies for one semester to allow her time to reassess her situation. She now calls and advises she will resume the same course.

In this situation, the assessment of the allowable time should consider the length of the bereavement period, and exclude this period from the calculation.

Dan is studying for a Diploma of Counselling with IKON Institute of Australia, an 84 week TGD level approved course. Dan previously completed the Diploma of Community Services with the same RTO, an approved full time TGD level course for 60 weeks in 2018. IKON Institute of Australia does not have set study periods. As Dan's current course is 84 weeks in length, the allowable time will be 84 weeks plus half an academic year, in this case 26 weeks taking it through until 110 weeks, at which point he will meet allowable time but not exceed.

Dan's previous study has to be included when assessing his allowable time. As he has already completed 60 weeks, once he completes half an academic year (26 weeks) he will have completed 86 weeks at the same level. As this is less than 110 weeks, he can continue to be paid for the next 26 weeks. At this point he will have reached 112 weeks of study which will exceed the 110 allowable time weeks. Thus, Dan could be paid for 52 weeks of the 84 week course before he exceeds the allowable time.

Evelyn has commenced a 3 year Commerce degree. Evelyn has previously studied the equivalent of 3 years at the same level, undertaking an Arts degree between 2015 and 2019. Some of this study was considered full time and some as a 25% concessional study load student. She received PES for one full year.

Her previous study counts as 3 years in the allowable time calculation. As her current course is also 3 years in length, PES can be paid for a further 3 years (double the normal course length), if she continues as a 25% concessional study-load student.

Evelyn will continue to qualify for PES until they exceed their allowable time and therefore can be paid for an additional study period after their allowable time has been reached.

Sam is studying for a 3 year Bachelor of Nursing degree in 2020. Sam has previously completed a 4 year combined Bachelor of Arts and Commerce degree, completing this degree in 2018. Sam did not study in 2019 and has applied prior to the course commencement date of 2/3/2020. Unfortunately, as the allowable time for a 3 year degree is 3.5 years and Sam has exceeded this by completing 4 years at the same level, Sam's Austudy claim should be rejected. In order to have the claim reach the outcome of REJ-ATR:

• Austudy claim lodged: 8/2/2020
• Bachelor of Nursing start date: 2/3/2020
• Inst Course Start Date field: 1/3/2020
• Student Start Date field: 2/3/2020
• Allowable Time End Date field: 1/3/2020

Sheryl is studying an online Certificate 3 in Floristry through a private college. The National Course Approvals sub-site lists the normal course duration as 30 weeks full time (for 100% full time study load). The college does not have set study periods.

Sheryl has advised she has to repeat some of her assessment tasks and has to extend her course by 3 more weeks, for a total course duration of 33 weeks. As the course does not have set study periods, and she will be completing the course within 40 weeks (when the student would meet 75% of the full time study load, so is still meeting satisfactory progress) the Austudy can be extended for this period.

Beth is receiving Austudy and studying a 4 year combined course. The course includes a 3 year Bachelor of Laws and 1 year Startup Year Course. Allowable time is assessed on the Bachelor component of the combined course only. Beth has not studied at this level previously so would meet allowable time at 3.5 years (minimum time = 3 years plus half an academic year).

Beth then commences the Startup Year Course component after she has completed her Bachelor in 3.5 years. The Startup Year Course does not require an allowable time assessment and is not included in the previous assessment. This is because students can only receive up to 2 STARTUP-HELP loans.

Note: Only Startup Year Courses that offer STARTUP-HELP loans are considered to be an approved course. See Startup Year Courses.

Anthony is currently undertaking the Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Science double degree at the University of Tasmania.

The degree has a normal full-time course duration of 4 years.

The allowable time for this course is the minimum time for that course plus half an academic year (FOR EXAMPLE 4.5 years), unless Anthony is currently enrolled in a year-long subject which would extend their allowable time to 5 years.

Anthony commenced this course in Semester 1, 2018. Between Semester 1, 2018 and Semester 2, 2022 they attempted 4.250 EFTSL in this course.

According to Assessing satisfactory progress for tertiary students for Austudy, satisfactory progress for Austudy can only be assessed at 3 key points:

• as of the day Anthony enrols (or re-enrols) in their course
• when Anthony’'s enrolment changes, or
• on the first day of the next study period

In this example, we are assessing Anthony’s eligibility for Austudy in Semester 1 2023 onwards.

Assume the following:

• Anthony completed Semester 2, 2022 on 30 November 2022
• Anthony did not undertake any study during a Summer Semester
• Anthony re-enrolled for Semester 1, 2023 and Semester 2 2023 on 15 January 2023
• Anthony did not vary or change enrolment before the start of Semester 1, 2023
• Semester 1, 2023 commences on 20 February 2023

At the completion of Semester 2, 2022, Anthony had undertaken 4.250 EFTSL in the course. As Anthony did not undertake a Summer Semester after Semester 2, 2022 their previous study at the same level remains 4.250 EFTSL on:

• 15 January 2023, the day they re-enrolled in their course, and
• 20 February 2023, the start of Semester 1, 2023

Therefore, as at both 15 January 2023 and 20 February 2023, Anthony has not reached the allowable time for the course and continues to satisfy the satisfactory progress rules for Austudy in Semester 1, 2023.

The proof of enrolment lodged by Anthony confirms they are undertaking 0.375 EFTSL in Semester 1, 2023 and 0.375 EFTSL in Semester 2, 2023. As this study load is considered to be 75% of the normal amount of full-time study for each semester, the Assessing satisfactory progress for tertiary students for Austudy procedure states it is considered to be 100% of the study load for each semester. That is 0.500 EFTSL in each semester.

As Anthony has already enrolled for the whole year, the next satisfactory progress assessment point is the start of Semester 2, 2023 on 10 July 2023. As of this date it is anticipated Anthony would have completed 4.750 EFTSL (4.250 + 0.500). Anthony is not enrolled in a year long subject, therefore the allowable time is 4.500 years. This means from the start date of Semester 2, 2023 he will exceed allowable time and ceases to be eligible for Austudy. The allowable time end date recorded on his record will be the day before they exceed (9 July 2023). This ensures that Anthony is assessed up to and including 9 July 2023 and his payment will stop from the start date of the semester, 10 July 2023.