We made bulk payments to tertiary education organisations (TEOs) to cover the cost of Fees Free enrolments for each calendar year.

How allocations and payments worked

For provider-based enrolments, at the start of each year, we used a TEO's delivery from prior years to determine their indicative allocation for the calendar year. We created a payment schedule based on that allocation, which usually included monthly payments. Throughout the year, we monitored their reported delivery. We made adjustment payments in-year as required, if their delivery was trending significantly higher or lower than their allocation for the calendar year.

For work-based enrolments, we paid each month based on the fees reported and validated for work-based learners that calendar month.

At the end of each year, after we received a TEO's final provider-based and work-based first-year Fees Free returns, we completed a wash-up of all Fees Free allocations and made a final payment or recovery, so that their final allocation matched their delivery for the year.

Find out more about TEO allocations and payments

TEOs can access all information on their allocations in the My Allocations and Payments application in DXP Ngā Kete:

My Allocations and Payments

To see how we calculated 2025 allocations for TEOs, read the 2025 methodology:

2025 Global Indicative Allocation Methodology (PDF 1 MB)

To see how we calculated 2025 wash-ups, read the 2025 wash-up methodology:

Funding wash-ups by year

TEOs had until 30 April 2026 to finalise first-year Fees Free reporting for 2018 to 2025. This included correcting any outstanding errors, and adding any learners that have been missed.

We ran a final validation of first-year data in May 2026 and made final payments in June. TEOs are unable to charge learners for fees that would have been eligible for Fees Free, where we did not make payment because of an error or delay in TEO reporting.

How to check learners’ eligibility for Fees Free

We provided multiple methods for TEOs to check Fees Free eligibility, including by Workspace 2, email, or API. All methods are now closed. 

TEOs can check how much we allocated for their learners in the 2025 Fees Free Multiple Providers and Cap Limit reports and Work-based Remittance reports. TEOs can now find these reports in DXP Ngā Kete’s Workspace 2 Archive.

Reporting

As with other funds, TEOs needed to report their Fees Free eligible enrolments to us so that we could monitor Fees Free entitlement use, and calculate the allocation to be paid for each enrolled learner.

Reporting provider-based study

Each month, we provided a blank Fees Free All Enrolments and Costs template on Workspace 2 for TEOs to report all of their eligible Fees Free enrolments, to date, for the calendar year.

When TEOs submitted their returns to us, we validated the information and sent back two reports in return. One let TEOs know of any errors we found in their return (the Fees Free All Enrolments and Costs Data Validation report). The other told them how much we intended to allocate to them for each learner they had reported to us (the Fees Free Multiple Providers and Cap Limit report). TEOs can now find these reports in DXP Ngā Kete’s Workspace 2 Archive. For guides to help you understand these reports, see Guidance – first-year Fees Free.

If you have any questions, please contact your Relationship Manager or Advisor, or the Customer Contact Team on 0800 601 301 or customerservice@tec.govt.nz.

Reporting work-based training

Each month, we gave TEOs a blank Fees Free Programmes and Fees template on Workspace 2, for them to report the fees they were charging for eligible learners in that month.

TEOs also received a Fees Free Schedule of Fees, which they needed to fill in the first time they reported to us each year. After that, they only needed to fill it in when they made changes. The Schedule of Fees was a complete list of fees charged to learners enrolled in eligible programmes. We used it to help us validate the information submitted in the Programmes and Fees return.

When TEOs submitted their returns to us, we validated the information and sent back a Remittance report. This let them know of any errors we found in their return, and told them how much we intended to allocate to them for each learner they reported to us. TEOs can now find these reports in DXP Ngā Kete’s Workspace 2 Archive. For guides to help you understand these reports, see Guidance – first-year Fees Free.

If you have any questions, please contact your Relationship Manager or Advisor, or the Customer Contact Team on 0800 601 301 or customerservice@tec.govt.nz.