Student Allowance process

You apply for the Student Allowance online.  If you can’t apply online, contact us.

• You need to apply at least 21 days before your course starts, or you may not get paid on time.
• You need to apply for your Student Allowance before you enrol for study but you will need to be fully enrolled before we can pay you.
• Make sure you give us all the details we need - this speeds things up.

We will process your application and check the information you give us.

• We will send you a letter asking for more information if we need it.
• We need to have all the information before the end of the course for which you have applied for a Student Allowance or it will be declined.
• We also send you a letter if you don’t qualify for a Student Allowance.
• If you applied online you will be sent a paper declaration to sign.  If you are under 24 or have a partner, we will also send forms for your parents or partner to complete.

We will send you a pre-approval letter showing how much you’re likely to get.

• This letter doesn’t mean your Student Allowance is approved. We still need to check your study details with your education provider before we can approve your application.

We check your details with your education provider closer to the time your course starts. We’ll check:
- the dates of your course
- if you’re full-time or part-time.

• Make sure you’ve fully enrolled or your education provider won’t be able to confirm your details and you may not get paid on time.

We will assess your Student Allowance based on your study details.

• We send you a letter to tell you if your Student Allowance is approved.
• If your application has been declined, we send you a letter explaining why.
• From November 2009 you will be able to sign up to view your mail online at MyStudyLink.

Your payments can start.

• You can use MyStudyLink to check on when your payments start.
• If you don’t apply on time or don’t give us all the information we need, we can’t pay you on time.