The UFS has some impacts on Fees Free, but isn’t changing the way Fees Free works.

• Fees Free will continue to apply separate eligibility and entitlement settings to provider-based study and work-based learning (previously industry training).
• Provider-based study is reported through the Single Data Return (SDR) and the Fees Free All Enrolments and Costs returns, and work-based learning is reported through the Industry Training Register (ITR) and the Fees Free Programmes and Fees returns. TEOs delivering both modes will be reporting their Fees Free delivery in both returns.
• The eligibility criteria for courses and programmes now refer to the new DQ3-7 and DQ7+ funds, instead of SAC3+ and the ITF. Check out the eligibility criteria for 2023

Provider-based study

• There is one addition to the provider-based residency criteria for 2023.
• Learners may now access Fees Free for their 2023 provider-based study if they are a holder of a residence class visa who is a family member of a Christchurch Response (2019) Permanent Resident Visa holder, or a family member of a residence class visa holder who would have been eligible for the Christchurch Response (2019) Permanent Resident Visa.
• For a learner to meet this criteria, they must have received a residence class visa as a result of their family relationship, through Immigration NZ. Learners who are unsure of their visa status should be directed to Immigration NZ.
• Find the full 2023 Fees Free residency criteria for provider-based learners starting their study in 2023 here.
• If a learner is unsure if they meet the criteria for Fees Free, they should contact the TEC for assistance. Remember a learner should not generate a statutory declaration if they are not sure whether they meet the criteria.

Work-based learning

• We have made amendments to the work-based learning residency criteria for 2023 to align eligibility for Fees Free with eligibility for domestic tuition subsidies, meaning that only funded learners (including grand-parented non-residents) are eligible for Fees Free for work-based training from 1 January 2023.
• Find the full 2023 Fees Free residency criteria for work-based learners starting their training in 2023 here.
• If a learner is unsure if they meet the criteria for Fees Free, they should contact the TEC for assistance. Remember a learner should not generate a statutory declaration if they are not sure whether they meet the criteria.
• Learners who started using their Fees Free entitlement prior to 2023, who no longer meet the work-based residency criteria for Fees Free in 2023, will be able to continue accessing Fees Free until they have used their full entitlement. These learners will have a ‘Starter’ status already.

Provider-based courses with zero fees undertaken on or after 1 January 2023 will no longer use a learner’s Fees Free entitlement, or be counted against learner eligibility for future years. 

The purpose of this change is to make the policy more equitable and better support educational success and pathways for learners to transition from lower to higher levels of qualifications.

This change has not been applied retrospectively. All zero fees study at or equivalent to NZQCF level 3 or above undertaken before 1 January 2023 is still included when determining eligibility, and still uses a learner’s entitlement. The TEC does not have discretion to approve eligibility or entitlement appeals relating to zero fee courses undertaken prior to 2023.

Definition of a zero fee course

For the purposes of Fees Free eligibility and entitlement settings, a “zero fee course” is a provider-based course that:

• is funded by the New Zealand Tertiary Education Commission,
• starts on or after 1 January 2023, and
• has no tuition fees and no compulsory course costs for any learner enrolled in the course.

This does not include:

• courses that have fees, but the fees were paid by a scholarship, student loan, employer, or another zero fees scheme (unless otherwise specified),
• free courses undertaken overseas,
• courses that you have withdrawn from and been granted full or partial fee refund, and
• courses that have zero tuition fees, but do have compulsory course costs associated with the course.

Reporting and informing learners

We will update the validation of Fees Free reports to automatically exclude 2023 courses that have zero tuition fees and zero compulsory course costs in Services for Tertiary Education Organisations (STEO) from a learner’s entitlement use. In addition, TEC will develop a process to allow TEOs to inform us of courses that charge zero fees to all learners, where the course has fees recorded in STEO. We will communicate this process to TEOs in due course. TEOs will not be required to report zero fee courses in their 2023 All Enrolments and Costs returns.

TEOs should also communicate to their learners when a course thought to be ‘zero fees’ will still use their Fees Free entitlement, for instance:

• When the learner’s fees have been covered by another zero-fees scheme, scholarship, or their employer, or
• When the course has no tuition fees but does have compulsory course costs.

Student Services Fees

Student Services Fees are generally associated with a learner’s overall enrolment with a TEO, rather than particular courses. Student services fees charged to a learner do not impact whether or not a course is considered zero fees for the purposes of Fees Free eligibility and entitlement.

Fees Free will cover student services fees, even if a learner is enrolled only in zero fee courses. The student services fees will count towards the learner’s Fees Free entitlement use.

In 2020, with the implementation of the Targeted Training and Apprenticeship Fund, we applied a change which prevented courses funded by the Youth Guarantee and Māori and Pasifika Trades Training funds from using a learner’s entitlement use or counting against learner eligibility between 1 July 2020 and 31 December 2022. This exclusion has now been continued indefinitely and will continue to not affect Fees Free eligibility and entitlement in 2023.

This has not been applied retrospectively. Refer to the Interactions with other Funds page for further information on the impact of YG and MPTT funded study on Fees Free eligibility and entitlement prior to 1 July 2020.

Some courses or programmes that start prior to 31 December 2022 and end in or after 2023 may only be partially covered by the TTAF. Find more information on the allocation rules for the end of TTAF here.

You must ensure that your learners are aware that the TTAF is ending on 31 December 2022, and that they will need to organise payment of fees incurred after this date.

Any tertiary education and training for which the fees were covered by the Targeted Training and Apprenticeship Fund (TTAF) between 1 July 2020 and 31 December 2022 will not be counted on a learner’s Fees Free entitlement use, nor will it be included when determining a learner’s eligibility for Fees Free. This means that a learner who has previously only undertaken study covered by TTAF, may be able to access Fees Free in 2023.

• Learners that started accessing Fees Free before accessing TTAF will only be able to access Fees Free in 2023 if they have remaining Fees Free entitlement.
• Learners that wish to access Fees Free for the first time for their study will need to meet the eligibility criteria for 2023. This includes if they are enrolled in a course that is partially covered by the TTAF (i.e. in a course that starts in 2022 and finishes after 31 January 2023).

TEOs will need to report any provider-based courses that start before 31 December 2022 and continue past 31 January 2023 in their 2022 Fees Free returns. Any courses that start after 31 December 2022 can be reported in their 2023 Fees Free returns as usual.

Work-based learning is reported and paid based on the fees for each month only, so TEOs reporting work-based learning will start using Fees Free returns again from January 2023.