Element E381 - Amount paid up front
Description
The student contribution or tuition fee amount which will be or has been paid for a unit of study or the amount of student services and amenities fees which will be or has been paid by the student.
Input Packets
Packets/Groups it appears in:
Showing 0 of 5.
Validations
Showing 0 of 19.
Format
| Code category | Element (E) |
|---|---|
| Element # | 381 |
| Element Type: | Decimal |
| Width: | 7(2) |
| Version Revision Date: | |
| Version: | 6.10 |
| Years version active: | 2025 |
Allowable Values
NILAmounts for exempt students need to be reported as 0.
The complete amount due to be paid is reported if the student has taken up a payment plan or other payment arrangements with an organisation which allows the student to pay their tuition fees for a unit of study in instalments over a period of time.
If the student is in an employer reserved place/restricted access place, the amount paid must only be the amount paid by the student. It must not include the employer contribution.
Higher Education only
For information on how to calculate element 381 for pre‑2017 student data please refer to the glossary - Calculating amounts for HECS-HELP eligible students.
VET only
If a VET loan increase is required, the provider should let the student know and should ‘roll’ the increase amount into the next unit of study. Where the increase is required on the last unit of study, the provider is to create a new unit and repeat as much of the unit ID as possible while adding ‘INCR’ at the start of the Unit of Study Code (E354). The new unit must have the same census date and other details as the last unit enrolment except Amount charged (E384), Amount paid up front (E381), HELP loan amount (E558), Loan Fee (E529) and Unit of Study Code (E354) (refer to the element specification for each of these elements for more information).
TCSI Support Change History
| Revision Data | Change Details | Change Reason |
|---|---|---|
| 2025-07-08 | Modification of coding notes |
Clarification and reflection of current legislation |
| 2025-07-07 | Modification of coding notes |
Clarification and reflection of current legislation |
Summary
Element 381 was included as part of the Higher Education Student data collection under the new policy and program initiatives introduced under the Higher Education Support Act 2003 (HESA) which was implemented in 2005 and was revised to "Amount paid up front". Prior to the reporting of data in 2005 it was modified to 8 characters to include the reporting of cents.
The element was included in the VET FEE‑HELP data collection in 2009. There has been some modification to coding notes since to reflect current legislation.
Table 1. Change control information with links to relevant versions 1
| First year version applied | Last year version applied | Version | Change | Reason for change | Notice date | Issue date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Current | 6.20 | Update to coding notes | To clarify the currency to be reported | 28 November 2025 | 28 November 2025 |
| 2025 | 2025 | 6.10 | Update to coding notes | VET Student Loans Secretary Notice update July 2025 | 8 July 2025 | 8 July 2025 |
| 2021 | 2025 | 6.00 | Incremental version number applied. | A new version number is applied to mark the transition from the Higher Education Information Management System (HEIMS) to the Tertiary Collection of Information (TCSI). | 3 Jul 2020 | 3 Jul 2020 |
| 2018 | 2020 | 5.00 | Modification of coding notes | Clarification and reflection of current legislation | 18 Sep 2017 | 18 Sep 2017 |
| 2015 | 2016 | 4.00 | Re‑format document to conform with the department's application upgrade | Ministerial Notice document system upgrade | 22 May 2014 | 22 May 2014 |
| 2013 | 2014 | 3.10 | Modification of coding notes | Clarification and reflection of current legislation | 14 Feb 2012 | 18 Dec 2012 |
| 2012 | 2012 | 3.00 | New versioning applied to data elements | No change in requirements - Implementation of new document management system. | 11 Mar 2011 | 11 Mar 2011 |
| 2009 | 2011 | 1.20 | Addition of coding notes and update of element description to accommodate use by VET providers | Introduction of VET FEE‑HELP | 5 Dec 2008 | 5 Dec 2008 |
| 2005 | 2008 | 1.10 | Element has been expanded to 8 characters to include cents | Required for accurate reporting of HELP up‑front payments at unit of study level | 9 Dec 2004 | 26 April 2005 |
| 2005 | 2005 | 1.00 | Coding and code meanings modified to support the policy and program initiatives under HESA | Implementation of new policy and initiatives under HESA 2003. | 9 Dec 2004 | 9 Dec 2004 |
| Pre‑HESA: Element 381 was included in the original Higher Education student data collection in 1989. It was revised to "Amount paid up front" and continued as part of the student data collection under the new policy and program initiatives introduced under the Opens in a new window: Higher Education Support Act 2003 (HESA) which was implemented in 2005. There have been no significant coding changes to the coding of this element. | ||||||
Note 1: A version of an element can be associated with one or more reporting years. Where there are multiple versions applicable to a reporting year, only a link to the latest version is provided.
