Provider-based study

• Fees Free is capped at $12,000 (including GST) per learner for a year of provider-based study.
• There was no equivalent full-time student (EFTS) or credit cap in a learner’s first calendar year of study.
• A learner eligible for first-year Fees Free could receive up to $12,000 (including GST) of Fees Free payments for any eligible provider-based study they undertook in the calendar year, regardless of how many EFTS they enrolled in.

Carrying over entitlement

Some learners could not undertake a full year of study within a calendar year. They could study part time, start part way through the year, or enrol in a shorter programme.

To ensure that all learners got the benefit of a year’s worth of provider-based study Fees Free, learners who undertook less than 1 EFTS and used less than $12,000 (including GST) of Fees Free in their first calendar year could continue to use Fees Free in future years. Their entitlement stopped when they reached 1 EFTS or $12,000 (including GST) of Fees Free eligible study – whichever they reached first.

Each year we calculated how much Fees Free entitlement eligible learners used in EFTS and dollars.

The methodology we used to calculate remaining entitlement can be found at Guidance – first-year Fees Free.

End of first-year Fees Free 

First-year Fees Free has now ended. First-year Fees Free only covered some fees in 2025, while the policy transitioned out. It won’t cover any fees from 1 January 2026.

End of first-year Fees Free

Work-based learning 

Eligible learners and their employer’s training and assessment costs were covered for the first 24 months of their training programme up to the value of $12,000 (including GST).

The 24-month entitlement is calculated:

• from the start date of the first programme in which the eligible learner is enrolled, and
• by only including the months where the learner is reported as “Active” or “Grace” on the last day of the month in the Industry Training Register.

Their entitlement stopped when they reached 24 months or $12,000 (including GST) of Fees Free eligible training – whichever they reached first.

Learners undertaking both provider-based study and work-based learning

Learners could undertake both provider-based study and work-based learning, or could change between modes during their tertiary journey. Where a learner was enrolled in both modes, they used their entitlement in EFTS, months and dollars.

We considered the learner to have used their full Fees Free entitlement when they reached:

• 1 EFTS of provider-based study, and/or
• 24 months of work-based learning, and/or
• $12,000 (including GST) across all study and training.

How to check how much entitlement a learner has used

TEOs can access up-to-date information on how much first-year Fees Free entitlement a learner has used in EFTS, months and dollars. This is to help you when giving financial advice to your enrolled learners and to help your learners in their decision-making. 

You can find the Fees Free Entitlement Use file in the Shared Documents on Workspace 2. The file is updated monthly based on the enrolments and fees reported to us by TEOs each month.