Reporting withdrawals and remissions in TCSI

Why is it important to correctly report unit of study withdrawals?

The correct reporting of withdrawals is important so that:

  • the TCSI system correctly reverses or remits any loans connected to the unit of study
  • Services Australia has access to accurate information about when a student ceased study for the purpose of helping students to maintain their student payments.

What does the data look like before the student withdraws?

Providers are required to report a Unit Enrolment packet within 7 days of the student enrolling in a unit of study. That packet will include the following data, which is critical to loan processing and/or income support payments:

  • Unit of Study Census Date (E489)
  • Unit of Study Commencement Date (E600)
  • Unit of Study Outcome Date (E601)
  • Unit of Study Status Code (E355)

For students who are yet to commence the unit of study or are still undertaking the unit of study the:

  • Unit of Study Status Code (E355) will be '4'
  • Unit of Study Outcome Date (E601) is the expected outcome date of the unit and will be after the Unit of Study Census Date (E489)

If other data has been reported to indicate that the student will be accessing a loan, the system will have created a loan for the student. See the loan processing factsheet for more information about how the system creates loans based on the data reported in unit enrolment records.

What data must be updated when a student withdraws from a unit of study?

Providers are required to update the existing unit enrolment record within 7 days of the student withdrawing from unit of study. The following elements need to be updated:

  • Unit of Study Status Code (E355) needs to be amended either to '1' (withdrew without penalty) or '6' (withdrew due to medical reasons)
  • Unit of Study Outcome Date (E601) needs to be amended to the date that the student withdrew.

If the student has been approved for a remission or re-credit, the Remission Reason Code (E446) also needs to be updated to reflect the nature of the remission or re-credit. If the student has not been approved for a remission or re-credit, the Remission Reason Code (E446) must be left blank. More information on remissions and re-credits is available in the TCSI glossary and the Administrative Information for Providers (for higher education providers) or the VET Student Loans: Manual for Providers (for VET providers).

What happens if I report a Unit of study outcome date on or before the unit of study census date?

For students who withdraw on or before the Unit of Study Census Date (E489) for the unit of study, providers are required to update: 

  • the Unit of study status code (E355) to either:
    • '1' (withdrew without penalty); or.
    • '6' (withdrew due to medical reasons)
  • the Unit of study outcome date (E601) to the date that the student formally withdrew from the unit of study.
Higher education loans

TCSI will not create a loan for a unit enrolment that has been reported with a Unit of Study Outcome Date (E601) on or before the Unit of Study Census Date (E489). Any unit enrolment that already has a loan in TCSI, will have that loan deleted or reversed if the Unit of Study Outcome Date (E601) is updated by the provider to be on or before the Unit of Study Census Date (E489). Unit of Study Status Code (E355) does not affect the application of this rule for higher education loans.

VET Student Loans

TCSI will not create a loan for a unit enrolment that has been reported with a Unit of Study Outcome Date (E601) on or before the Unit of Study Census Date (E489), where the unit is reported as withdrawn i.e. Unit of Study Status Code (E355) is reported with a ‘1’ or ‘6’ value. Units reported as completed or failed before the census date may create a loan in TCSI (if other elements indicate a loan is required).

What if the student resumes the same unit?

A student may resume the same unit enrolment after they have withdrawn from the unit or transferred into a different course. The unit is the same if the Unit of Study Code (E354) and Unit of Study Census Date (E489) are identical.

If a student resumes the same unit enrolment in the same course, the following elements need to be reported:

  • Unit of Study Status Code (E355) needs to be amended to ‘4’ (still in process of completing), and
  • Unit of Study Outcome Date (E601) needs to be amended to the date the provider expects the student to finish engaging in learning and assessment activities.

If a student resumes the same unit enrolment in a different course, the following needs to be reported:

  • Delete the originally reported unit enrolment record
  • Re-report the unit enrolment record with a link to the correct course admission packet
  • Ensure Unit of study Commencement Date (E600) is the date when the student commenced the current delivery of the unit enrolment (in any course).

Do I need to update the loan amounts when the student withdraws?

No. If the Unit of Study Outcome Date (E601) is updated so that it is on or before the Unit of Study Census Date (E489), the system will recognise that the student withdrew before they incurred a financial liability and the system will automatically remove any loans the system created for the unit of study.

If the Remission Reason Code (E446) is reported to a non-blank code, the system will recognise that the student has received a remission and will automatically remove any loans that the system created for the unit of study.

As long at the Unit of Study Status Code (E355), Unit of Study Outcome Date (E601) and Remission Reason Code (E446) are updated correctly, there is nothing more that a provider needs to do to have the loans removed for a unit of study.

It is also critical that the Student Status Code (E490) is not removed (null) when the student withdraws after the census date. 

Will there be a problem if I do update the loan amounts, student status and other amounts when a student withdraws?

There is no need to update any of the amounts on the unit enrolment record when a student withdraws from a unit of study. Please do not change the Student Status Code (E490), Amount Charged (E384), Amount Paid Upfront (E381), Loan Fee (E529) or the HELP Loan Amount (E558). All the amounts on the unit enrolment should remain unchanged as long as they were correct on the date that the student withdrew or the census date, whichever is earliest.

The design of TCSI was subject to extensive sector consultations before it was built, and the design is consistent with the widespread view that providers should not have to update amounts on the unit enrolment if a student withdraws before the census date. The design of TCSI reflects that view.

If you do update the amounts when the student withdraws on before the census date, you are likely to encounter issues with validation rules that check that these amounts have been reported and rules that cross-check the amounts for consistency.

If you update the amounts when the student withdraws after the census date, the data will be inaccurate as at the census date.

Can I just delete the unit enrolment when the student withdraws?

No. This will misrepresent the student's actual enrolment in the unit of study and could lead to Services Australia using incomplete data when helping students to maintain their student payments.

The only times a unit enrolment packet should be deleted is when:

  • the unit enrolment was created in error and the student was never actually enrolled in the unit of study
  • the student resumes the same unit enrolment (with the same census date) after transferring to a different course .

What do we report when the student withdraws from their whole course?

Within 7 days of a student notifying the provider that they are withdrawing from their course of study, the provider must:

  • report the withdrawal of the student from any of their current units of study as detailed above
  • update the Course Outcome Code (E599) to '2' (withdrawn) on the existing course admissions packet.

There is no need to update the Course Outcome Date (E592) because this element is only to be reported where the student has completed the course of study.