Passing your course
If you get a Student Allowance for tertiary study, you must pass more than half of the work of a full-time tertiary course to get it again - unless you didn't pass because of a reason beyond your control, such as illness.
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How to calculate if you have passed more than half your course
An enrolment must have a certain EFTS (equivalent full-time student) value to be considered full-time depending on the length of the enrolment. You must pass more than half of the EFTS needed to be full-time to get another Student Allowance. For example, a 52 week long course needs a minimum EFTS value of 0.8 to be full-time. This means if your course is 52 weeks long you will only be required to pass 0.4001 EFTS or more to get another Student Allowance, even if your course is more than 0.8 EFTS. See the table below for full details.
The EFTS value is determined by the content of your course, and is set by the Tertiary Education Commission.
| Number of gross weeks | EFTS for full-time | EFTS you need to pass to get another Student Allowance | Number of gross weeks | EFTS for full-time | EFTS you need to pass to get another Student Allowance | |
| 12 | 0.3 | 0.1501 | 23 | 0.575 | 0.2876 | |
| 13 | 0.3 | 0.1501 | 24 | 0.6 | 0.3001 | |
| 14 | 0.3 | 0.1501 | 25 | 0.625 | 0.3126 | |
| 15 | 0.3 | 0.1501 | 26 | 0.65 | 0.3251 | |
| 16 | 0.4 | 0.2001 | 27 | 0.675 | 0.3376 | |
| 17 | 0.4 | 0.2001 | 28 | 0.7 | 0.3501 | |
| 18 | 0.4 | 0.2001 | 29 | 0.725 | 0.3626 | |
| 19 | 0.4 | 0.2001 | 30 | 0.75 | 0.3751 | |
| 20 | 0.5 | 0.2501 | 31 | 0.775 | 0.3876 | |
| 21 | 0.525 | 0.2626 | 32-52 | 0.8 | 0.4001 | |
| 22 | 0.55 | 0.2761 | 53 or more | 1.0 | 0.4001 |
Telling us whether you passed more than half your course
When you apply for your Student Allowance, you will be asked whether you passed more than half the work of a full-time course the last time you received the Student Allowance.
We may check your study results with the Ministry of Education. If you answer "yes" but they confirm you didn't pass more than half the work of a full-time tertiary course, you may have to repay any payments you have received.
If you don’t know
If you don't know your results yet, you can answer "I'm not sure" and let us know when you have your results.
We will check with the Ministry of Education. Or you can let us know as soon as you find out your study results.
We can't finish processing your application until we know whether you've passed or not.
If you didn’t pass your course for reasons beyond your control
If you didn't pass, but:
- have passed study since at your own expense, or
- didn't pass because of reasons beyond your control - such as illness (we will need proof),
then you may still be eligible. Please contact us.
