Passing your course when you get Student Allowance

You must meet the passing requirements to be able to get another Student Allowance.

We work this out based on EFTS.

What are EFTS?

For the last course you got a Student Allowance for, we look at:

  • how many EFTS your course needs to be considered full-time
  • how many EFTS you passed.

You need to have passed more than half the EFTS your course needs to be considered full-time.

Example of full-year study

Your course must be at least 0.8 EFTS to be considered full-time.

Your course or what you’re studying may be more EFTS than this.

However your passing requirements for us is more than 0.4 EFTS, no matter how many EFTS your course is or you’re actually studying.

Example of semester study

Your course must be at least 0.4 EFTS to be considered full-time.

Your course or what you’re studying may be more EFTS than this.

However your passing requirements for us is more than 0.2 EFTS, no matter how many EFTS your course is or you’re actually studying.

Confirming your results

We'll confirm this with the Ministry of Education (MoE).

If we can't confirm your results with MoE you can:

  • provide proof of your results
  • complete a Statement of Satisfactory Progress form
linksStatement of Satisfactory Progress form (PDF 702.2KB)

Didn’t pass for reasons beyond your control

You may still be able to get a Student Allowance if you've had something significant happen in your life that means you failed your course.

It could be that you had a serious:

  • illness that put you out of action for some time (eg, glandular fever)
  • accident and ended up in hospital for a while.

Or you may have other special circumstances, eg you've been in a Civil Defence emergency, like a flood or earthquake.

It doesn't include reasons like:

  • pregnancy
  • you couldn't afford to study
  • you weren't interested in the course.

If you’re not sure, email us with 'Student Allowance' as your topic, or call us to tell us about your situation.

What you need to do

  1. Apply online for a Student Allowance (if you haven’t already).
  2. Get evidence of the reason you failed (eg, a medical certificate). This needs to show how your study was affected and how long this lasted.
  3. Get evidence that you can now return to study (eg, a medical certificate confirming you are fit to return to study).
  4. Log in to Connect and upload your documents.

Don't meet passing requirements

If you didn't pass your course and you don't have a good reason, you won’t be able to get another Student Allowance until you either:

  • study another course:
    • at a tertiary education provider that's approved for Student Allowance
    • and pass more than half the EFTS that the course needs to be considered full-time
    • without getting a Student Allowance (eg, you can get a Student Loan)
  • repay the full amount of Student Allowance you received for the course.

Passing another course

Once you've passed another course

  1. Apply online for a Student Allowance (if you haven’t already).
  2. Get evidence of your grade (eg, results from your education provider).
  3. Log in to Connect and upload your document.

Repaying your Student Allowance

If you've withdrawn and the course you failed was 32 weeks or more, you'll need to pay the full amount back within 12 months of the start of the course.

If you've withdrawn and the course you failed was less than 32 weeks, you'll need to pay the full amount back before the end date of the course.

If you studied part-time and were approved limited full-time for the last course you got a Student Allowance for, we'll look at the:

  • total amount of EFTS you studied
  • total amount of EFTS you passed.

You need to have passed more than half of the total amount of EFTS you studied.

Example

You studied 0.6 EFTS on your last course.

Your passing requirements for us is more than 0.3 EFTS.

Didn’t pass for reasons beyond your control

You may still be able to get a Student Allowance if you've had something significant happen in your life that means you failed your course.

It could be that you had a serious:

  • illness that put you out of action for some time (eg, glandular fever)
  • accident and ended up in hospital for a while.

It doesn't include reasons like:

  • pregnancy
  • you couldn't afford to study
  • you weren't interested in the course.

If you’re not sure, email us with 'Student Allowance' as your topic, or call us to tell us about your situation.

What you need to do

  1. Apply online for a Student Allowance (if you haven’t already).
  2. Get evidence of the reason you failed (eg, a medical certificate). This needs to show how your study was affected and how long this lasted
  3. Get evidence that you can now return to study (eg, a medical certificate confirming you are fit to return to study).
  4. Log in to Connect and upload your documents.

Don't meet passing requirements

If you didn't pass your course and you don't have a good reason, you won’t be able to get another Student Allowance until you either:

  • study another course:
    • at a tertiary education provider that's approved for Student Allowance
    • and pass more than half the EFTS that you study for that course
    • without getting a Student Allowance (eg, you can get a Student Loan)
  • repay the full amount of Student Allowance you received for the course.

Passing another course

Once you've passed another course

  1. Apply online for a Student Allowance (if you haven’t already).
  2. Get evidence of your grade (eg, results from your education provider).
  3. Log in to Connect and upload your document.

Repaying your Student Allowance

If you've withdrawn and the course you failed was 32 weeks or more, you'll need to pay the full amount back within 12 months of the start of the course.

If you've withdrawn and the course you failed was less than 32 weeks, you'll need to pay the full amount back before the end date of the course.