Ordinary SLE
Additional SLE
Lifelong SLE
Your total Student Learning Entitlement (SLE) is made up of ordinary, any additional, and lifelong SLE. Your SLE will be used as you undertake study as a Commonwealth supported student. Any study you undertook before 2005 does not affect your SLE.
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Ordinary SLE
All eligible students are allocated ‘ordinary’ SLE to the value of 7 equivalent full-time student load (EFTSL) which entitles you to 7 years of equivalent full-time study as a Commonwealth supported student.
Example
If you choose to study at half the pace of a full-time student, you will have the same SLE as a full-time student (equivalent of 7 years of full-time). However, you may study for 14 years as a Commonwealth supported student. |
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Additional SLE
You may also be entitled to additional SLE, which is an extra entitlement to ensure that you have enough SLE to complete at least one course of study as a Commonwealth supported student. You will be allocated additional SLE for your course if you are Commonwealth supported and the course is:
- an undergraduate course that will take longer than 6 years of full-time study to complete. The additional SLE will ensure that, combined with your ordinary SLE, you will have enough total SLE to cover the length of your course, plus one year of additional flexibility; or
- an honours course, a graduate entry bachelor degree or a postgraduate course. In these cases, the additional SLE will be enough to cover the length of the course; or
- restructured by the provider, requiring you to undertake additional units of study. In this case, the amount of additional SLE will be enough to cover those additional units.
In general, the amount of additional SLE that you will be granted will be as outlined above. However, if you have previously been allocated additional SLE for another course and you used some of it, the amount you used will reduce the amount you are granted for subsequent courses.
Example
Toby enrols in a combined Bachelor of Law/Bachelor of Engineering as a Commonwealth supported student. The length of the course is 7 years of full-time study. He has not consumed any additional SLE for any other course.
Toby is entitled to have a total SLE for the course of 8 EFTSL (the length of the course (7 years), plus 1 year of additional flexibility). Because Toby already has 7 EFTSL of ordinary SLE, his additional SLE is 1 EFTSL. That is, 8 (total SLE) – 7 (ordinary SLE) = 1 (additional SLE). |
Any additional SLE you are granted for a course can only be used for that particular course and cannot be transferred to another course. You begin consuming additional SLE once you have used all of your ordinary SLE.
Example
Francesca undertakes a Bachelor of Commerce and uses 3 EFTSL of her ordinary SLE during her studies. She then enrols in the related honours course as a Commonwealth supported student. Francesca is entitled to 1 EFTSL of additional SLE for the honours component.
Francesca completes her honours course, consuming 1 EFTSL of SLE. The SLE she uses is her ordinary SLE, leaving her with a balance of 3 EFTSL of ordinary SLE. The additional SLE she was granted for the honours course will be lost because she did not need it as she had enough ordinary SLE to cover the course. She cannot use the additional SLE for another course as additional SLE can only be used for the course for which it was granted.
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Lifelong SLE
In order to encourage lifelong learning, eligible students will accrue lifelong SLE. Lifelong SLE will allow you to update, or add to your qualifications. 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.
The amount of lifelong SLE you accrue will be 1 EFTSL when you first start accruing, and 0.25 EFTSL every 1 January thereafter.
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