Monitoring update: November 2024

At the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC), we gather a range of information about common issues through our monitoring work. We’re committed to partnering with tertiary education organisations (TEOs) and sharing learnings from our monitoring work to help the sector build capability. That way, we can all achieve better outcomes for learners.

This update includes information about:

Fees Free from 2025

Final-year Fees Free online content updated

The final-year Fees Free eligibility criteria and settings are now available on the TEC and Fees Free websites.

Fees Free website – the home page of the Fees Free website directs learners to either the final-year or first-year information depending on when they are starting their study or training.
TEC website –information on first-year Fees Free and final-year Fees Free is now available on the following pages:
- For information on transition rules, see End of first-year Fees Free policy.
- For the latest information, including eligibility criteria and settings, see Final-year Fees Free.

Updating your website

Please review and update the Fees Free copy on your website, using the following information. This clarifies to learners starting study or training for the first time in 2025 that Fees Free will cover final-year fees, for eligible learners.

Content for TEO websites – final-year Fees Free

We will keep you informed as this important mahi progresses. In the meantime, if you have any questions, please email customerservice@tec.govt.nz with the subject line [EDUMIS #] – final-year Fees Free policy or call 0800 601 301.

Student services fees: 2024 reports due

Since 1 January 2023, student services fees (SSFs) are regulated through funding conditions determined by the Minister for Tertiary Education and Skills and administered by the TEC. Funding conditions outline the rules that TEOs must follow when receiving TEC funding, including that TEOs that charge an SSF must report on it annually.

Tertiary education institutions (TEIs) must report on their SSF in their annual reports.
Registered private training establishments (PTEs) must provide a written report to their learners. They must then forward this report to the TEC.

Thank you to those who have already submitted their 2024 report. For TEOs that charge an SSF but have not yet submitted their report, please send your current SSF report to ssf@tec.govt.nz.

For more information about how to report on SSFs, including what to include in your report, see the guidance:

Student services fees: Guidance for tertiary education providers (PDF 1.1 MB).

If you have any questions, please contact ssf@tec.govt.nz.

Annual Maximum Fee Movement (AMFM)

The Government regulates how much tertiary providers can increase their fees for domestic students each year through the AMFM. This caps the percentage increase on fees for existing courses at level 3 and above on the New Zealand Qualifications and Credentials Framework (NZQCF).

Following consultation, the Minister has confirmed that the AMFM rate will be set at 6.0% for the 2025 calendar year. This permits an increase of up to a 6.0% on the fees (GST exclusive) charged to domestic students in 2024. The increase aims to strike a balance between supporting providers to manage cost pressures and supporting affordable tertiary education for students and their whānau.

The micro-credential fee cap

The micro-credential fee cap sets a per-credit cap on the fees that providers can charge domestic students enrolled in micro-credentials. Following consultation, the Minister has confirmed a $64 (GST inclusive) per credit fee cap will be maintained for the 2025 calendar year.

2025 AMFM exceptions

TEOs may apply for an AMFM exception to increase your fee by up to an additional 6% above the permitted AMFM.

We may only grant an exception to the AMFM policy under exceptional circumstances. The exception criteria are published in the funding mechanisms.

How to apply for an exception to the AMFM

The application process for 2025 is now open. TEOs must submit applications for any courses that start between 1 January 2025 and 31 December 2025 by 5.00pm on 29 November 2024.

Please read the exceptions information:

AMFM exceptions – Application guidelines and assessment information (PDF 501 KB).

Submit applications and all supporting information with the subject line [EDUMIS] – Exception to the AMFM to our Customer Contact Group at customerservice@tec.govt.nz.

For more information, see Annual Maximum Fee Movement (AMFM).

Monitoring the AMFM

During TEC audits we monitor compliance with the AMFM and associated conditions. Recent audits have identified some issues, including:

TEOs increasing fees for some courses above the AMFM rate. Audits will look at increases in fees in each course to ensure they stay within the cap.
Discrepancies between the fees being charged to learners and the fees that are recorded in Services for Tertiary Education Organisations (STEO). It is a condition of your funding that you must report in STEO accurate information regarding the fee you are charging learners.

If you have any questions about fees, including how to update fees in STEO or how to calculate your fee increases, please contact your relationship manager or customerservice@tec.govt.nz.

Correctly reporting course results and end dates

We have recently identified a number of inconsistencies in some TEOs’ reporting of courses where a result has not yet been determined. Please continue reporting courses in the Single Data Return (SDR) until a result is available, after the course end date has elapsed. This may mean manually adding a course enrolment record to the SDR if the course end date was in a previous calendar year.

Note that you should not change the end date of extended or un-resulted courses. Although this may be a workaround to keep the record active in your student management system (SMS), it will result in funding anomalies (including over-funding) when you change end dates from one December SDR to subsequent SDR.

For courses at Levels 1–8, you must report a result within 11 months of the course end date. A result means a completion code that is not code 0, 6 or 7.
Courses at Levels 9 or 10 can continue to be reported in the SDR with a non-completion code of 6 or 7 indefinitely. You can do this until a completion result is available (code 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5).

Please do not change course start or end dates once returned in a previous December SDR. The preferred approach is to continue reporting extended Level 9 and 10 courses with a completion code of 6 or 7. You can do this each year without changing the course end date, until a result of code 1,2,3,4 or 5 is available and reported in the SDR.

More information can be found on page 135 of the SDR Manual:

SDR Manual (PDF 1.73 MB).

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