Study rules

What the study rules are

You must be studying full time in a Student Start-up Loan approved course. You must also be studying the course on the 35th day after either:

• the course starts
• your qualifying test day in the loan period.

What the qualifying test day is

This is the first day that you meet all the eligibility rules for this payment. Your qualifying test day in a particular loan period depends on all of these:

• if you’re starting a new course
• when you applied for the loan
• if you told us your Tax File Number
• if you’re getting at least $1 of Youth Allowance, Austudy or ABSTUDY Living Allowance.

The qualifying test day can be earlier than the day we pay your loan.

What happens if you change your study

If you stop meeting all the eligibility rules, you won’t get any future un-paid loans.

You may need to pay us back if you don’t meet 1 of the 35 day rules.

If you need to pay us back

You’ll have to pay us back in some circumstances if we’ve already paid your loan in a particular loan period. This is if you weren’t studying the course on the 35th day after either:

• the course starts
• your qualifying test day in the loan period.

There is 1 exception to this rule. This is where your qualifying test day in a loan period is within the final 35 days of your course. This applies if you complete your course and don’t withdraw, stop studying or reduce your workload within those 35 days. You must complete your course and be enrolled on the last day of the course.