Assessing study load requirements 010-07010060

If the course of study is a CSP course, then the study load can be derived from the Student Contribution fee that is levied. The Equivalent Full-time Student Load (EFTSL) for a full year of a full-time course has a loading of 1.0. This generally equates to an EFTSL of:

• 0.500 per study period if they have 2 standard study periods per year (usually a semester)
• 0.333 per study period if they have 3 standard study periods per year (usually a trimester)
• 0.250 per study period if they have 4 standard study periods per year (usually a term)
• 0.200 per study period if they have 5 standard study periods per year
• 0.166 per study period if they have 6 standard study periods per year
• 0.142 per study period if they have 7 standard study periods per year
• 0.125 per study period if they have 8 standard study periods per year

For assistance with rounding EFTSL, see:

• Student Contribution rounding errors, and
• Other Student Contribution issues

A student who withdraws from one or more subjects:

• after the Student Contribution census date (usually 31 March for the first semester or 31 August for the second semester) may not be a full-time student after the withdrawal despite their full-time Student Contribution levy
• prior to the Student Contribution census date may have no Student Contribution levied but would not lose eligibility for payment until the withdrawal date

The student's study load is measured against the specified normal study load if:

• the education provider has specified a normal study load for a non-CSP course, and
• the course has been approved for student payment purposes with that study load

Different education providers may have different ways of measuring study load for a course. One education provider may assess the study load based on class contact hours while another may use total study hours expected of the student. This means there may be some apparent discrepancies between study loads for similar courses. Do not try to assess study load for one course using study load for another course. If the course has been approved then the method of study load measurement has also been approved.

The study load for an academic period of a course may not have been specified by the education provider. In these cases, the normal study load may be taken to be that required to complete the course in minimum time. For example, a semester based course has a requirement to complete 1600 hours of work over its normal 2 year duration. This equates to a semester study load of 400 hours per semester.

The Equivalent Full Time Study Load (EFTSL) can be derived from the Student Contribution (previously called HECS) that is levied. The EFTSL for a full year of a full-time course has a loading of 1.0, therefore the loading for a semester is 0.5 (or half a full year's load).

Students undertaking less than the normal study load for the course will have a proportionately smaller Student Contribution. A student who attracts an EFTSL loading of 0.75 for a full year or 0.375 for a semester is undertaking 75% of the normal study load.

Note: EFTSL can be assessed for the whole year (rather than for individual semesters) where the student is studying a year long subject or where the institution's normal period of enrolment is a year.

Rounding errors can occur because Equivalent Full-time Student Load (EFTSL) is taken to 3 decimal places and rounded down. Therefore, a subject which comprises one third of a semester's study load has an EFTSL loading of 0.166 (calculated from 0.166666 (recurring) rounded down). While a student who has the two thirds study load concession should be doing 0.333 (per semester) of the year's study load, the EFTSL may appear as 0.332 (that is 0.166 times 2). This should not be taken as meaning the student is undertaking less than the two thirds concessional study load. Students are not to be penalised due to EFTSL rounding errors.

The minimum concessional EFTSL for a student to be considered full-time for Services Australia purposes is:

• 0.664 for a year, or
• 0.332 for a semester

Incorrect Equivalent Full-time Student Load (EFTSL) weightings - some education providers may have attempted to minimise Student Contributions for their students by arranging their courses so that they have an incorrect EFTSL. The EFTSL for each semester is divided by the normal subject study load to arrive at the Student Contribution for each subject. If the education provider told the Australian Government that the normal study load was one amount but then required the student to do a lesser study load, the student would only have to pay a proportion of the full Student Contribution. The course would then be cheaper. This is known as Student Contribution minimisation. It is not the normal operation of the legislation, and it should not be encouraged. It also can cause problems for students applying for student payments. They may claim to be doing 75% of the course Study load while their Student Contribution suggests a lesser study load. See the Resources page for an example of this situation.

Several courses have some form of practical training off campus.

In CSP courses, this training is normally given an Equivalent Full-time Student Load (EFTSL) weighting.

If the placement is being completed within Australia, the student must:

• maintain 75% of a full-time study load to continue to receive Youth Allowance, Austudy, ABSTUDY, or
• maintain their current study load to receive Pensioner Education Supplement (PES)

Tell the student to check with their education provider whether their placement attracts a credit weighting, and whether they are still enrolled full-time, or if they receive PES have maintained their current study load during the placement period. See Student Contribution minimisation on the Resources page.

A student who travels overseas to undertake a work placement may be eligible for payment providing:

• they were undertaking full-time study and are a continuing student immediately prior to departing Australia, and
• their placement forms part of their full-time Australian course, regardless of whether a credit weighting is given to the placement

For some TAFE/vocational education and training courses, the TAFE enrols the customer in minimal notional hours when the actual hours are significantly higher than the notional hours. The study load should take into consideration the actual hours undertaken in the practical training block.

Self-paced courses are courses in which students can progress at a pace which suits their individual learning needs, rather than the pace prescribed for a class of students.

The normal study load is the average study needed to complete the course in minimum time. The minimum time for the course is considered as part of the course approvals process. If minimum time for a course is unknown, use local procedures to contact the course approval section.

For assistance with calculating the correct percentage of study load, see the Resources tab for a link to the Student Programme Resource Tool.

The full-time study load at a secondary or primary school is whatever amount of work is set by the school as being full-time for that specific period.

A student who is over the minimum (compulsory) school leaving age and who is attending a special school is automatically regarded as a full-time student.

A student for whom Assistance for Isolated Children (AIC) is being paid and who is attending a special school is automatically regarded as a full-time student.

The full-time study load for a secondary or primary school student with a disability or other health-related condition is whatever amount of work is set by the school. This means the student is considered full-time for that period even where it is less than other students at the same level.

The school is entitled to consider the student's capacity (due to their disability or other health-related condition) to determine that the reduced study load is regarded as full-time.

The normal amount of full-time study is that set by the educational institution. A student needs to be enrolled and undertaking 75% of the normal amount of full time study. For students at secondary schools a student is considered full-time if the secondary school considers them to be a full-time student.

All VET courses, delivered by government TAFE providers, are measured against a standard State/Territory based definition of normal amount of study time following agreements made with each State/Territory under:

• section 541B (2) (b) of the Social Security Act 1991 for YA
• section 569E (1) (b) of the Social Security Act 1991 for Austudy
• section 1061PF (1) (b) of the Social Security Act 1991 for PES

The normal amount of full-time study for TAFE by State/Territory is contained in the Resources page. These definitions apply to all TAFE courses.

For students receiving Assistance for Isolated Children (AIC) and who are undertaking a TAFE/vocational education and training course, a full-time study load is the amount of work the education provider regards as a full-time amount for the student.

Each educational provider measures study loads in a different way. Service Officer's need to check the education provider's website or handbook to find out what it considers a full-time study load. Study loads for distance education courses are generally measured by either a unit weighting or the total hours specified for the course. See the Resources page for further information.

A student may undertake more study one week and less another. Services Australia will consider them to be full-time if:

• they are formally enrolled as full-time, and
• they are seen by the education provider to be studying, on average, a full-time study load over the academic period or from one specified date to another specified date (where the education provider does not have fixed term/semester dates)

The eligibility requirements for student payments are the same whether a student is studying through distance education or on campus.

Some distance education or external students can arrange their study patterns to suit their personal needs, with no academic penalty for not completing work. However, if students are receiving Youth Allowance, Austudy or ABSTUDY Living Allowance, students should complete their study in the normal time it takes to complete the course.

For students studying with Open Universities Australia, see Item 8.

OUA offers flexible study options to students, and many students do not undertake their entire course at OUA, with a significant number only completing one study period. For this reason, only record one study period at a time on the Education Details (EDC) screen, unless the student has provided proof of enrolment showing enrolment in more than one consecutive study period.

The enrolment structure determines whether a student is considered full-time for student payment purposes, due to the complex nature of enrolment periods with OUA. See Eligibility for student payments when enrolled in Open Universities Australia to determine if a student is studying at the required study load for their enrolled period.

If a student is full-time in either an open learning or conventional mode of study, then they are full-time for payment purposes.

Alternatively, if the student's open learning subjects are counted by their primary education provider towards the course study load then the 2 separate study loads can be combined. Proof that the open learning study is to be counted is needed.

Usually, at Open Universities Australia a single OUA university level unit counts as 1/8 of the annual study EFTSL (i.e. 0.125 EFTSL). However, Service Officers should confirm this on the OUA website via the National Course Approvals sub-site.

Services Officers assessing students studying through open learning delivery modes via other education providers should also refer to the National Course Approvals sub-site for provider specific information.

If the education provider does not normally classify the course as full-time, check their website and handbook to see if it states what the normal full-time study load is for the course.

For Commonwealth Supported Place (CSP) courses, a normal full-time EFTSL for a full-time year of study is 1.000 EFTSL.

A customer's study in a course, not normally classified as a full-time course, is assessed against the normal full-time study load for CSP courses, for the specific study period, or an alternative study period if the customer is seeking to take advantage of the aggregation of study load rules.

If a customer is studying a course that is advertised as part-time, however, the customer is enrolling in additional subjects to achieve 75% of the normal amount of full-time study in a standard CSP course, the customer is deemed a full-time student for that study period.

For example:

Sam is enrolled in the Graduate Diploma of Psychology Advanced through Monash Online at Monash University. The course handbook states the course is delivered on a part-time basis over 1.4 years. The Monash University academic calendar states that Monash Online courses are delivered over 6 teaching periods in one year.

If one year equals 1.000 EFTSL, then with 6 teaching periods, the normal full-time study load for each teaching period is 1/6 or 0.166 EFTSL.

If the student is enrolled in at least:

• 75% of 0.166 (i.e. 0.125 EFTSL), the student can be considered a full-time student
• 66% of 0.166 (i.e. 0.110 EFTSL), and the student is eligible under the 66% concessional study load rules, the student can be considered a full-time student
• 25% of 0.166 (i.e. 0.042 EFTSL), and the student is eligible under the 25% concessional study load rules, the student can be considered a full-time student

For non CSP courses delivered by TAFE Providers, the standard full-time study load per week has been defined by each State/Territory. See the Resources page.

To qualify as a student, a student studying at TAFE needs to study the required 75%, 66% concessional study or 25% concessional study (depending on their payment and circumstances) of the normal amount of full-time study determined by the State/Territory.

For non-CSP courses recognised by Services Australia delivered through private education providers, the standard full-time study load is available on the education provider's entry on the National Course Approvals sub-site.

Make sure the course is approved. See National Course Approvals page for the relevant provider.

See Aggregation of study load for rules.

If a customer is studying at a tertiary education provider which has a normal period of enrolment of a semester/trimester or equivalent study period, and annual enrolments are not allowed, then the study period can only be defined as semester/trimester or equivalent period. The student's study load may only be assessed against each individual study period. To be considered a full-time student, the customer must be undertaking full-time study in the semester/trimester or equivalent period.

The Resources page contains examples of acceptable study loads for semester/trimester enrolment.

The definition that Services Australia uses, under social security law or ABSTUDY policy, for full-time study (at least 75% of the study load required to complete the course in minimum time) is not universally accepted by the education sector.

Many education providers have their own definition and this needs to be considered when assessing the study load.

Just because a particular student is classified as full-time/part-time by the institution does not mean that Services Australia would agree under social security law or ABSTUDY policy.

The Resources page contains an example of the problems that can arise.

If none of the measures above can be used to determine the full-time study load, the course may be taken to be full-time if the average contact hours for the full period of study, is at least 20 hours per week (15 hours if the 75% rule is applied).

If assessment of study load requirements shows student is undertaking less than the full-time study load, check eligibility for a study load concession which may apply as follows:

ABSTUDY

• Assessing the two-thirds study load concession for ABSTUDY
• Assessing the disability study load concession for ABSTUDY and ABSTUDY Pensioner Education Supplement (PES)
• Assessing the pensioner study load concession for ABSTUDY Pensioner Education Supplement (PES)

Austudy

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

Pensioner Education Supplement (PES)

• Assessing eligibility for 25% concessional study load for Pensioner Education Supplement (PES)
• Assessing eligibility for 66% concessional study load for Pensioner Education Supplement (PES)

Youth Allowance (YA)

• Assessing concessional study loads for Youth Allowance (YA)