Being eligible & student learning entitlement
Eligibility requirements for Commonwealth support
What is the Student Learning Entitlement?
Types of SLE
Will you have enough SLE?
Consuming SLE
Checking your SLE consumption
Eligibility requirements for Commonwealth support
You are eligible for Commonwealth support for a unit of study if you meet all the following conditions.
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Condition |
Requirement |
| Citizenship |
You must be :
- an Australian citizen;
- a New Zealand citizen who will be resident in Australia for the duration of your unit of study; or
- the holder of a permanent visa who will be resident in Australia for the duration of your unit of study.
See also:
List of permanent visa sub-classes (20kb) PDF 
List of permanent visa sub-classes (157kb) RTF 
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| Enrolment |
You must:
- be notified by your provider that you are a Commonwealth supported student;
- complete your provider’s enrolment requirements for your units of study on or before the census date; and
- complete, sign and submit a Request for Commonwealth support and HECS-HELP form on or before the census date
See also: Important dates - census dates
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| Unit of study |
You can only be Commonwealth supported in relation to a unit of study if:
- the unit contributes to your course of study;
- you have enough Student Learning Entitlement (SLE) to cover the equivalent full-time student load (EFTSL) value of the unit, unless the unit:
- wholly consists of work experience in industry (WEI), or
- forms part of an enabling course. Ask your provider for confirmation
See also:
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| Payment of student contribution amount |
- If you are eligible for HECS-HELP, then you must either:
- pay 80% of your student contribution up front on or before the census date, or
- provide your Tax File Number (TFN) on your Request for Commonwealth support and HECS-HELP form on or before the census date
- If you are not eligible for HECS-HELP, then you must pay 100% of your student contribution up front on or before the census date
See also: Payment options and HECS-HELP
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What is the Student Learning Entitlement?
If you are an Australian citizen, New Zealand citizen or the holder of a permanent visa, you will receive a Student Learning Entitlement (SLE), providing you with access to seven years of equivalent full-time study in a Commonwealth supported place.
Example: If Jemima chooses to study at half the pace of a full-time student she can study for 14 years as a Commonwealth supported student. This is an equivalent full-time student load (EFTSL) of 7 years of full-time study.
You will consume your SLE as you undertake units of study as a Commonwealth supported student.
In some cases, you may also be eligible for additional SLE for your course of study.
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Types of SLE
The following table describes the different types of SLE available.
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SLE Type |
Description |
| Ordinary |
An equivalent of 7 years of full-time study for all:
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| Additional |
An extra entitlement to ensure that you have enough SLE to complete at least one course of study as a Commonwealth supported student. Any additional SLE you are granted for a course of study can only be used for that particular course.
You will be allocated additional SLE for a Commonwealth supported course of study, if the course is:
- an undergraduate course that will take longer than six years of full-time study to complete;
- an honours course;
- a graduate entry bachelor degree;
- a postgraduate course; or
- restructured by your provider, requiring you to undertake additional units
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| Lifelong |
To update your qualifications or retrain, you will begin accruing lifelong SLE:
- in 2012, if you were aged 20 years or older on 1 January 2005, or
- on 1 January of the year of your 27th birthday if you were aged less than 20 years on 1 January 2005.
Note: Lifelong SLE will accrue at the rate of 1 EFTSL on 1 January of the first year of accrual and 0.25 EFTSL on 1 January of every year thereafter.
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Will you have enough SLE?
You are not required to have enough of one type of SLE to cover a unit of study as long as your total available SLE (including ordinary SLE, additional SLE and lifelong SLE) is enough to cover the unit of study. Your SLE must be used in the following order:
- ordinary SLE;
- additional SLE; and
- lifelong SLE
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Consuming SLE
SLE consumption occurs on the census date for the unit(s) of study in which you are enrolled. Your SLE is reduced by the EFTSL value of the unit(s) of study in which you are enrolled as a Commonwealth supported student.
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Checking your SLE consumption
After the census date, your provider will send you a Commonwealth Assistance Notice (CAN) for the units of study in which you were enrolled at the census date as a Commonwealth supported student. The CAN will include details about your:
- student contribution amounts;
- SLE usage; and
- HECS-HELP assistance
If you think the information on the CAN is incorrect, you should contact your provider within 14 days with a written request to ask for the CAN to be corrected.
In conjunction with your CAN, you can check how much SLE you have used by logging in to the myUniAssist on this website. myUniAssist will provide you with information about how much Commonwealth assistance you have used. You will need your Commonwealth Higher Education Student Support Number (CHESSN) to log in.
See also: Your Commonwealth Assistance notice
See also: myUniAssist Login
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