If a learner enrolled in a TTAF course after 1 July 2020, were they eligible for Fees Free?

• Qualifications and programmes included in the TTAF targeted areas are excluded from Fees Free. In other words, where both could apply, the learner’s fees were funded by the TTAF, and not through Fees Free.
• Learners that undertook TTAF programmes did not use up their Fees Free entitlements, and did not have this learning count as prior study for the limits under Fees Free.
• This meant that if a learner was enrolled in a TTAF course, it did not count towards use of their Fees Free entitlement.

If a learner has completed a TTAF course and goes on to further study, are they eligible for Fees Free?

A Fees Free eligible learner who completed a TTAF course will still be entitled to the full Fees Free entitlement (the lower of $12,000, or the equivalent of one year’s study, or two years of work-based learning) for any further study they undertake. The learner will need to meet the Fees Free eligibility criteria for the year that they start Fees Free study or training.

If the learner used some of their Fees Free entitlement prior to TTAF, then they will be able to access their remaining entitlement after TTAF.

How did the TEC calculate Fees Free funding for enrolments that were only partially covered by the TTAF?            

The allocations for enrolments that were partially covered by the TTAF were calculated based on set transition rules.

• Check the start and end date rules for TTAF allocations

Any fees not covered by the TTAF may be covered by Fees Free for eligible learners.

Do TEOs need to include details on TTAF courses and programmes in Fees Free returns?

• You are not required to give us details of courses that are covered in full by the TTAF in your monthly Fees Free returns, as these are not eligible for Fees Free.
• If the course is only partially covered by the TTAF and the learner is eligible for Fees Free, you should include these TTAF courses in your Fees Free return. You should report the full EFTS and dollars charged to the learner for the course (including any portion covered by the TTAF). We will calculate the portion to be covered by Fees Free for you, based on the transition rules.
  
  This will enable the TEC to ensure we accurately determine the learner’s Fees Free entitlement use, and ensure learners are not disadvantaged in the future.

• We expected that a learner, if they had been enrolled under MPTT or YG in the past, would continue to be enrolled through these funds while there were places available, rather than under TTAF. This is because the MPTT and YG funds offer additional resources and pastoral care to learners that require it.
• MPTT places should have continued to be used as agreed with a TEO’s consortia and TEC.
• The TEC included reviewing enrolment source of funding (SOF) codes in its monitoring activity.

Learners enrolled under TTAF instead of YG or MPTT

If a TEO chose to enrol a learner under SAC3+ in a TTAF eligible programme, and if, before the TTAF was available, it would have enrolled that learner under MPTT (SOF 28,29) or YG (SOF 22), the TEO was required to support the learner in the same way it would have via MPTT or YG.

TEOs were required to self-fund this same level of support that would have been provided had those learners been enrolled in MPTT or YG. No additional funding was provided for this support. This requirement can be found in TEOs funding agreement at clause 40(c).