This update includes information about:

• Timeliness of the supply of financial information – PTEs
• Correct reporting of Source of Funding code 31 (SoF 31)
• Managing in-year funding.

Timeliness of the supply of financial information – PTEs

Our funding conditions specify that you must supply to us any financial information the TEC requires you to provide, as per section 426 of the Education and Training Act 2020.

For PTEs, this includes providing us with audited or reviewed accounts and forecasts each financial year, within five months of your financial year end. Supplying this information to the TEC supports our financial viability assessment process. This is important to ensure TEC invests public funding responsibly and learners can have confidence when investing their own time and money in tertiary education.

It’s important to provide this information in a timely manner. If you expect that you won’t be able to supply it within the required timeframe, you should contact your relationship manager or customerservice@tec.govt.nz

Correct reporting of Source of Funding code 31 (SoF 31)

In recent audits, we have identified that several TEOs incorrectly claimed funding for students who should have been reported under SoF 31 as non-funded confirmed student enrolments. You must ensure that your SDR accurately records all “confirmed student enrolments” where fees apply.

You may only claim funding for a course enrolment in which a student has completed 10 percent or one calendar month of the course – whichever is the earlier. In some cases, students withdraw after the student fee refund period, but before the enrolment becomes eligible for TEC funding. In these cases, if the TEO retains some or all of a student’s fee upon their withdrawal, we require the enrolment to be reported under SoF 31 and no TEC funding can be claimed.

Some TEOs, mainly PTEs, enroll students in all the courses of a programme (or qualification) up front. If a student withdraws after the programme’s fee refund period, the TEO may be able to retain all the student’s fee for that programme. This applies even where the start date for all course enrolments making up the programme have not been reached.

It’s important to understand the difference between receiving fees and retaining funding. While a TEO may retain student fees upon a student’s withdrawal from a programme, enrolments in courses that were part of the programme that have not surpassed the 10 percent or one-calendar-month threshold must be reported under SoF 31 and TEC funding cannot be claimed for these.

The reason for using SoF 31 is to provide full visibility of provision where there is a cost to the student and, sometimes, to the Crown through student loans and allowances. It also ensures that Education Performance Indicators can be calculated correctly.

We will continue to monitor the use of SoF 31 through SDR submissions and routine audits. If you do not correctly report enrolments under SoF 31, the result may be that you:

• need to resubmit your SDR
• incur potential funding recoveries.

If you have any questions regarding SoF 31, please contact your relationship manager or customerservice@tec.govt.nz

Managing in-year funding

Using actual delivery data submitted through the Single Data Return (SDR) and Industry Training Register (ITR), and trends from previous years, the TEC forecasts the expected value of delivery for each TEO across the reported funds. The forecasts identify TEOs who are likely to under-deliver.

Our forecasts start with the April SDR. Our aim is to right-size TEOs’ allocations by:

• decreasing funding during the year where allocations are not going to be used or expected enrolments have not been realised, and
• increasing funding in priority areas.

The TEC expects TEOs to manage their funding in-year more proactively to reduce any forecasted recovery amounts at the end of each year. How a TEO manages its in-year funding, including working with the TEC around these targeted amendments, will be factored into any potential Repayment Plan assessments.

If you have any questions regarding in year amendments, please contact your relationship manager or customerservice@tec.govt.nz