2021 starter

First, please confirm your eligibility status by entering your National Student Number (NSN) on the Fees Free home page.

If you’re eligible for Fees Free and have been invoiced by your tertiary education organisation (TEO), please check these things:

1. You’ve entered your National Student Number (NSN) on the Fees Free website and your result was 'Yes' or 'Starter’.
2. The NSN you entered on the Fees Free website is the same NSN you gave your TEO when you enrolled with them. If it isn’t, please update your TEO with your correct NSN.
3. The study or training you’ve enrolled in is eligible for Fees Free. If you’re unsure, please ask your TEO.
4. You undertook study of less than one equivalent full-time student (EFTS), 24 months of work-based learning, and used less than $12,000 (including GST) in prior years. To check how much Fees Free entitlement you’ve used so far, please enter your NSN on the Fees Free home page. Then follow the instructions to request a Fees Free Entitlement-Use Review.

If you’ve only recently declared your eligibility to us, it may take some time for your TEO to update your account.

It depends on how much study you’ve done so far. Fees Free covers your first full-time year of provider-based study – or what is equivalent to a full-time year – up to $12,000.

So, if you haven’t used either 1 EFTS (120 credits) or $12,000 in your first calendar year of study, you may have some Fees Free entitlement left.

You may be able to carry forward your remaining Fees Free entitlement (in EFTS and dollars) to use in future years. Your Fees Free entitlement will stop when you use up your remaining EFTS or remaining dollars – whichever you use up first.

You must have used less than 1 EFTS (120 credits) and less than $12,000 of Fees Free entitlement to be able to carry forward to another year.

If you’ll reach one of these caps before finishing your studies, you may wish to apply for a student loan to cover the rest. For more information about Student Loans visit the StudyLink website.

Note that these settings apply to the current first-year policy, and may change in future years. Final-year Fees Free policy settings have not yet been confirmed.

From 2025, the first-year Fees Free policy is operating under transition settings. In 2025, you can continue to use your remaining entitlement if you used Fees Free in 2024 and are continuing in the same qualification.

However, if you didn’t use Fees Free in 2024, or you used it but you’re not continuing in the same qualification in 2025, you will not be able to use Fees Free for future studies.

Find out more about the end of the first-year Fees Free policy.

To see how much Fees Free entitlement you have left, please enter your National Student Number (NSN) on the Fees Free home page. Then follow the instructions to request a Fees Free Entitlement-Use Review. When we’ve received the request, we’ll verify your identity and send you an email letting you know how much Fees Free you have used.

Your Fees Free entitlement will stop when you use up your remaining EFTS, months or dollars – whichever you use up first. If you plan on using a Student Loan to cover the rest of your fees after your entitlement stops, you’ll need to apply to StudyLink.

For more information about Student Loans visit the StudyLink website.

From 2025, the first-year Fees Free policy is operating under transition settings. In 2025, you can continue to use your remaining entitlement if you used Fees Free in 2024 and are continuing in the same qualification.

However, if you didn’t use Fees Free in 2024, or you used it but you’re not continuing in the same qualification in 2025, you will not be able to use Fees Free for future studies.

Find out more about the end of the first-year Fees Free policy.

No. You can’t save your Fees Free entitlement to use later. Fees Free covers your first year of tertiary study, or first two years of training. If you’re eligible for Fees Free and are enrolled in eligible study or training, you’ll automatically start to use your Fees Free entitlement.

All zero fee study and training undertaken before 2023 will have used your Fees Free entitlement (calculated in EFTS or months).

However, any zero fee courses you undertake on or after 1 January 2023, with zero tuition fees and zero compulsory course costs, will not use your Fees Free entitlement.

If you withdrew from a course between 23 March 2020 and 30 June 2020 and/or 17 August 2021 and 31 December 2021, the entitlement you used on the course has been proactively reinstated for you. You will be able to use this entitlement on future courses that you enrol in, and this will be applied automatically when you enrol.

However, if you withdrew outside of this timeframe, you can appeal against the use of your Fees Free entitlement. To do this, please enter your NSN on the Fees Free home page. Then follow the instructions to request a Fees Free Entitlement-Use Review.