Full-time - Student Allowance definition
Provides the definition of a full-time student for the Student Allowance.
Each tertiary level course has an EFTS (equivalent full-time student) value assigned to it. For an individual course to be approved as full-time, the length of that course must meet a certain EFTS value. See the chart below.
| Number of weeks (gross weeks) | EFTS | Number of weeks (gross weeks) | EFTS |
| 12 | 0.3 | 23 | 0.575 |
| 13 | 0.3 | 24 | 0.6 |
| 14 | 0.3 | 25 | 0.625 |
| 15 | 0.3 | 26 | 0.65 |
| 16 | 0.4 | 27 | 0.675 |
| 17 | 0.4 | 28 | 0.7 |
| 18 | 0.4 | 29 | 0.725 |
| 19 | 0.4 | 30 | 0.75 |
| 20 | 0.5 | 31 | 0.775 |
| 21 | 0.525 | 32-52 | 0.8 |
| 22 | 0.55 | 53 or more | 1.0 |
StudyLink will request a Verification of Study (VoS) from your education provider to verify if you meet the full-time criteria.
There are particular situations where courses can be joined together and assessed as full-time.
If you're unsure if your course meets the full-time criteria, check with your education provider.
There are courses that are shorter than 12 weeks (e.g. Summer School). For these courses to be considered as full-time, the EFTS value must be at least 0.025 for each week of that course, and the course must be approved by the Tertiary Education Commission for Student Allowance purposes.
