At the beginning of each year, we use the enrolment information from prior years to determine the indicative allocation for each TEO for the calendar year, and then create a payment schedule based on that allocation.

Adjustment payments will be made in-year as required, if your reported delivery is trending higher or lower than your allocation for the calendar year.

At the end of each year, after we’ve received your final Fees Free returns, we’ll complete a wash-up of all Fees Free allocations and make a final payment or recovery, so that your final allocation matches your delivery for the year.

All information on your organisations allocations can be found in the My Allocations and Payments app in Ngā Kete.

How we calculated your 2023 allocation

The 2023 methodology for the calculation of your allocation can be found in the 2023 Fees Free Allocation Methodology document below.

2023 Fees Free Allocation Methodology (PDF 245 KB)

How we calculated your 2022 wash-up

The methodology and technical specifications for the calculation of 2022 funding wash-ups can be found in the 2022 Global Wash-up Methodology document.

2022 Global Wash-up Methodology (PDF 1.1 MB)

Fees Free Reporting

As with other funds, you’re required to report your Fees Free eligible enrolments to us so that we can monitor Fees Free entitlement use, and calculate the allocation due to you for each of your enrolled learners.

How to check learners’ eligibility for Fees Free

Eligibility statuses can change daily based on statutory declarations, eligibility appeals, and other information submitted to the TEC. It’s important to check the eligibility status of your learners regularly, so that you can report the eligible enrolments to us.

There are several ways for you to check the eligibility status of your learners.

Fees Free website

The Fees Free website, while predominantly used by learners, can be used by tertiary education organisations to check the eligibility of a learner. The website is updated daily.

Workspace 2

On the home page of Workspace 2 there is a ‘Shared Documents’ section. Here, you’ll find several Fees Free Eligibility CSV files that list all eligible learners (those with a ‘Yes’ or ‘Starter’ status) that have remaining Fees Free entitlement, for each calendar year. These are the learners you will need to report for Fees Free. If a learner is not on this list then they are either ineligible for Fees Free, their status is ‘Unknown’, or the learner is eligible but has already used their full entitlement in a previous year.

There is a different file for each calendar year. Please check a learner’s eligibility status for the year they started their study or training.

All files are updated daily.

Email

For large volumes of learners, you may wish to send a CSV file to customerservice@tec.govt.nz containing a list of National Student Numbers (NSNs) enrolled with your organisation in the current calendar year. We’ll return this file to you with the learners’ eligibility statuses within two business days.

This file will allow us to give you the status of every learner enrolled with your organisation, regardless of whether the learner is eligible or not.

Reporting provider-based study

Each month, we will provide you with a blank ‘Fees Free All Enrolments and Costs’ template on Workspace 2, which you will use to report all of your eligible Fees Free enrolments to us to date for the calendar year.

An email will be sent to the lead contact and the data return contacts for each organisation at the beginning of each reporting round. You can also find the dates of the reporting rounds in the TEC business calendar.

When you submit your returns to us, we will validate the information and provide you with a couple of reports in return. These reports inform you of any errors we have found in your return (‘Fees Free All Enrolments and Costs Data Validation report’) and tell you how much we intend to allocate to you for each learner you have reported to us (‘Fees Free Multiple Providers and Cap Limit report’).

You can find guides to help you fill in and understand your reports on the Fees Free Guidance page. If you have any questions, please contact your Relationship Manager or Advisor, or the Customer Contact Group for assistance.

Reporting work-based learning

Each month, we will provide you with a blank ‘Fees Free Programmes and Fees’ template on Workspace 2, which you will use to report the fees you are charging for eligible learner in that month. You will also receive a ‘Fees Free Schedule of Fees’ which you need to fill in the first time you report to us, and then only when changes need to be made. The Schedule of Fees is a complete list of fees that you charge to learners enrolled in eligible programmes, and is used to help us validate the information you submit in your Programmes and Fees return.

An email will be sent to the lead contact and the data return contacts for each organisation at the beginning of each reporting round. You can also find the dates of the reporting rounds in the TEC business calendar.

When you submit your returns to us, we will validate the information and provide you with a Remittance. This will inform you of any errors we have found in your return, and tell you how much we intend to allocate to you for each learner you have reported to us.

You can find a guide to help you fill in your reports on the Fees Free Guidance page. If you have any questions, please contact your Relationship Manager or Advisor, or the Customer Contact Group for assistance.