TCSI February Newsletter 2026

New and updated address validations are being introduced to TCSI.

Issue

Three warning real‑time validations (RTVs 10188, 10250 and 10251) were not triggering when providers reported address details in TCSI. This issue, published in the outstanding issues in production tracker last year, was caused by a fault in the third‑party address‑checking service TCSI relied on.

Solution

The updated solution will use a real‑time connection to the Geoscape Geocoded National Address File (G‑NAF), Australia’s official and authoritative database of physical addresses.

The fix includes restoring the three affected RTVs and introducing two new Scheduled Validations (SVs 00129 and 00130). These SVs will apply to census dates from 1 January 2025, allowing providers to focus on their 2025 student verification activities and reducing unnecessary warnings for historical records.

This improved approach will enhance the reliability of address validation, helping TCSI users accurately report student and VET delivery location addresses and enabling more accurate calculation of equity measures.

The fix is scheduled for release in TCSI for Friday, 27 February 2026.

Further detail regarding the release of these RTVs and SVs will be available on the TCSI releases and upcoming development page. Providers are also encouraged to view the recording of the TCSI February 2026 Provider Webinar for further information regarding this release.

If you experience any issues following the release of these validations, please contact TCSIsupport@education.gov.au.

All providers are invited to attend upcoming webinars and drop-in sessions.

These sessions are an excellent opportunity to get up-to-date information and to ask any questions you might have about TCSI.

A list of upcoming TCSI webinars can be found below:

To attend the scheduled 2026 monthly TCSI webinars live, please register via the TCSI News Centre webpage.

TCSI Support has rescheduled the March drop-in session to 18 March 2026 to avoid a clash with the Special Circumstances webinar being held on 11 March 2026, 2:00-3:30pm [AEDT]. The Special Circumstances webinar is an opportunity for higher education providers to receive information from the Department of Education's legislation and litigation team about special circumstances criteria, decision making, and recent Administrative Review Tribunal decisions. There will also be an opportunity to ask questions. Interested higher education providers can register now.

Recordings of previous webinars can be found at the following locations:

• For Monthly provider webinars, please see the ‘Published Newsletters, Webinars and other media’ section of the News Centre webpage.

Take a quick refresher on OS-HELP requirements to make sure your students are set for success.

OS-HELP eligibility checks

A provider must not select a student for OS-HELP unless the provider is satisfied the student meets all the eligibility criteria in HESA Division 118. This guidance, and further detail on OS-HELP eligibility, are available from the Administrative Information for Providers guide on the Education website.

The department expects that providers make use of the tools available to them to check a student’s OS-HELP eligibility against all OS-HELP criteria before giving a student their OS-HELP funds:

• Providers can check student’s eligibility by asking for and reviewing student records
• Providers can confirm a student’s past OS-HELP loans either through myHELPbalance or through the TCSI Data Entry portal and via the HELP balance API endpoint.

Providers are required to report an OS-HELP loan packet to TCSI within 14 days of the E527: HELP debt incurral date. Where possible, it is also recommended that providers report the student loan early in the TCSI system to ensure any validations that are triggered by the loan record can be reviewed early.

Providers can contact TCSISupport@education.gov.au for more information about the system tools available to check a student’s OS-HELP eligibility. 

OS-HELP loan caps

In addition to ensuring that students are eligible for OS-HELP, Section 9 of the Higher Education Support (OS-HELP) Guidelines 2023 states that providers must not, in a year, select students to receive OS-HELP assistance in excess of the OS-HELP loan cap as advised in writing to the provider by the Department.

Providers are expected to monitor their issued loans against their approved OS‑HELP loan caps at all stages of the OS-HELP student selection and funding process through their own internal systems and processes.

To assist providers, TCSI also has systemised controls in place to prevent over allocating loans after OS-HELP advances are approved. However, TCSI is a reporting system, and providers select students to receive OS‑HELP loans prior to entering those loans into TCSI. 

OS-HELP loan cap communication

Three letters are sent by email to providers’ Vice-Chancellor or equivalent offices during the year, informing them of their loan caps and approved HELP payments. The initial determination for the following year is sent out in December. In April we perform another variation which is usually communicated in May. We perform a final variation for the year in October which is usually communicated in November.

Providers are able to request additional OS-HELP loans at any point during the year. Approval of the cap increase is subject to the written approval of the Minister’s delegate.

If you are unsure what your provider’s OS-HELP loan cap is, or wish to request an increase to your cap, please contact HELP.Policy@education.gov.au. 

OS-HELP loan cap and timely reporting

As outlined above, Providers are required to report an OS-HELP loan packet to TCSI within 14 days of the E527: HELP debt incurral date. 

From an OS-HELP cap perspective, timely reporting of OS-HELP loans ensures:

• Accurate loan data is available in April and October when the department assesses providers’ requests to change their OS-HELP loan caps and funding, and 
• Providers are alerted early if they go over their loan cap or there is an issue with their loan cap in TCSI.

Information on coding E392: Maximum student contribution code for Commonwealth support students.

At the commencement of the 2026 academic year, we would like to remind providers of the requirements for the E392: Maximum student contribution code for Commonwealth supported students.

Grandfathered students

A grandfathered student (E392: Maximum student contribution code = 9) is a Commonwealth supported student who:

• commenced a course of study (ongoing course) before 1 January 2021. 
• commenced or completed a course of study before 1 January 2021 and after that date commences another course (i.e. an honours course) related to the ongoing course.
• undertook an enabling or undergraduate certificate course in 2020 and, after 1 January 2021, commenced another related course of study that leads to a higher education award.

The student must have also been a Commonwealth supported student in relation to a unit of study of the earlier course.

Further advice on which students are grandfathered is available in Schedule 1 of the Higher Education Support Act 2003 (HESA) and on the department’s website.

Non-Grandfathered students

A non-grandfathered student (E392: Maximum student contribution code = 7) is a Commonwealth supported student commencing a course of study after 1 January 2021 and does not meet the definition of a grandfathered student under Schedule 1 of HESA. 

Professional Pathway Units of Study

Please ensure units of study are identified as Professional Pathways (E392: Maximum student contribution code = 8) if they meet all the requirements outlined below.

A Professional Pathway Psychology unit of study must meet the following criteria:

1. Be part of an approved course as listed on the Department of Education’s website (and has the relevant E307: Course code that was provided to the Department for each approved course).
2. The student does not meet the definition of a grandfathered student in Schedule 1 of HESA.
3. The E464: Discipline code for the unit of study must start with 0907.
4. The E310: Course of study type must be either a Bachelors Pass (10), Bachelors Honours (09) or Bachelors Graduate Entry (08).

A Professional Pathway Social Work unit of study must meet the following criteria:

1. Be part of an approved course as listed on the Department of Education’s website (noting the E307: Course code must be provided to the Department for each approved course).
2. The student does not meet the definition of a grandfathered student in Schedule 1 of HESA. 
3. The E464: Discipline code for the unit of study must start with 0905.
4. The E310: Course of study type must be either a Bachelors Pass (10), Bachelors Honours (09), Bachelors Graduate Entry (08) or Masters (Coursework) (04).

Please note that for courses of study which meet the criteria for both Professional Pathways Psychology and Professional Pathway Social Work, E392: Maximum student contribution code must be marked as 8 for all units which have a E464: Discipline code starting with 0905 and 0907.

If a unit does not meet all the requirements of Professional Pathways Psychology or Social Work, then the E392: Maximum student contribution code cannot be 8.

More information on the professional pathways can be found on the Department of Education’s Professional Pathways webpage.

Information on coding E312: Special Course Type for Clinical Psychology courses.

At the commencement of the 2026 academic year, we would like to remind providers of the requirements for identifying a clinical psychology course. 

Please ensure courses are only identified as a Clinical Psychology course (E312: Special course type = 27) if:

1. The course is accredited by the Australian Psychology Accreditation Council (APAC) for the purposes of registration as a psychologist, and
2. The APAC course accreditation level is Level 3-4 or Level 4, and
3. The course is accredited by APAC in one of the following areas of practice:
   
   • clinical,
   • clinical neuropsychology,
   • community,
   • counselling,
   • educational and development,
   • forensic,
   • health, or
   • sport and exercise.

If a course of study does not meet all these criteria, then E312: Special course type cannot be 27.

If you are not sure if a course meets these criteria, please contact CGS@education.gov.au

Information on reporting HDR students to TCSI.

As the annual verification process for the 2025 Higher Education student data collection approaches, the department would like to remind providers of the reporting requirements for HDR student and Research Training Program (RTP) scholarship data. This data will be verified in TCSI Analytics through the following reports: 

• Higher Education Course Completions (HDR Students) report
• Higher Education Research Training Program (HDR Students) Scholarship report

Following the 2024 Higher Education Provider Student data verification process, the department identified variability in HDR data quality across providers, particularly regarding RTP stipend values. Providers can refer to information on HDR reporting provided in the February, May and June 2025 TCSI webinars, the February, May, June and August 2025 TCSI newsletters and the Ministerial Notice issued in August 2025.

Reporting E487: Scholarship type

The following values are allowable for element E487: Scholarship type:

• ‘09’ – A student receiving a Research Training Program (RTP) Fees Offset
• ‘10’ – A student receiving a Research Training Program (RTP) Stipend
• ‘11’ – A student receiving a Research Training Program (RTP) Allowance

Providers are reminded that:

• Other values including ‘08’ ceased being active from 2021 and should not be reported against E487.
• When reporting a value of ‘10 – A student receiving a Research Training Program (RTP) Stipend’ for E487: Scholarship type in the Scholarship packet, providers must also report the annual full‑time equivalent E623: RTP stipend amount. This must be submitted through the RTP stipend amount packet for each reporting year covered by the scholarship. See further information on E623: RTP stipend amount below.

Reporting E623: RTP stipend amount

An RTP Stipend is defined in the Higher Education Support (Commonwealth Scholarships) Guidelines 2025and must be at least equal to the base full-time RTP stipend rate and no more than the maximum full-time RTP stipend rate. Providers have the discretion to offer any rate within this range using their RTP funding.

From the 2025 reporting year onwards, the amount to be reported via the E623: RTP stipend amount is the total annual full-time equivalent RTP stipend rate awarded to the student for the full reporting year – regardless of whether:

• the student studied part-time or 
• completed their studies before the end of the year or
• their RTP stipend was suspended during the year. 

The reported amount must be the annual full-time rate, which will not necessarily be the actual amount paid to the student. In addition, this rate is to be reported for each course to which the student has been admitted. When a student transfers between HDR courses, this would require multiple course admission records to be reported. Examples are provided on the E623: RTP stipend amount webpage. 

The RTP stipend rate awarded to a student must be the only amount reported for the E623: RTP stipend amount. The following must not be reported under the E623: RTP stipend amount:

• RTP fees offsets
• RTP allowances
• industry co-payments
• any other scholarships, top-ups or payments awarded to a student and not funded through the RTP. 

Providers are reminded that:

• When reporting the annual full-time equivalent E623: RTP Stipend amount via the RTP stipend amount packet, the E487: Scholarship type of ‘10 - A student receiving a Research Training Program (RTP) Stipend’ must be reported via the Scholarship packet.
• The correct annual full-time equivalent E623: RTP Stipend amount must be reported for each year within the scholarship duration.

Reporting E560: Credit used value

Research block grants are calculated using 2 years of the most recently available research and development income and HDR student completions data. To assist the department in identifying the reasons for shorter than expected completion timeframes, providers are reminded to ensure they report the EFTSL value of any credit used towards the requirements of the course under E560: Credit used value via the Course prior credits packet. This includes credit transferred between related courses at the same organisation.

If you have any questions or concerns about these reporting requirements, please contact RBGrants@education.gov.au.

Information on reporting joint HDR awards to TCSI.

The TCSI Joint award glossary term will be updated to include the following clarification in relation to joint HDR awards:

• For higher degrees by research (HDR) delivered as joint awards, providers are required to determine which institution is the home provider and which is the host provider for TCSI reporting purposes:
  
  • The home provider is responsible for reporting the student’s HDR completion and associated information, including any eligible RTP scholarships.
  • The host provider records the student’s involvement in the joint program as a cross-institutional arrangement and does not report a completion.

These arrangements ensure that HDR completions and RTP scholarships are not duplicated in TCSI. 

Only one provider is permitted to report a student's HDR completion in TCSI. Therefore, for joint HDR award arrangements: 

• The home provider is required to report the completion against the course admission packet or exit award packet.
• The host provider must not report the completion in TCSI
  
  • If a unit enrolment is required, the host provider must also submit a course admission linked to E310: Course of study type of ‘42 – Cross-institutional program for postgraduate study at the home provider’.
  • If the host provider confers an award, they must report a E599: Course outcome code of ‘6 – Transfer to complete a related course’ for that course admission.

If you have any questions on how to report joint HDR awards and any associated fees to TCSI, please contact TCSIsupport@education.gov.au.

If you have any questions or concerns about the reporting requirements for joint HDR awards, please contact RBGrants@education.gov.au.

Support for Students Policy Annual report due on or before 1 March 2026.

The Higher Education Provider Guidelines 2023 requires providers approved under the Higher Education Support Act 2003 to prepare and submit an annual report on their Support for Students Policy. A Reporting Template to simplify and standardise the reporting process is available on the department’s website.

Providers must submit the annual report for the Support for Students Policy for 2025 on or before 1 March 2026 to SupportForStudents@education.gov.au. The reporting period is from 1 January to 31 December 2025.

If you have any questions about the Support for Students Policy reporting, please contact SupportForStudents@education.gov.au.