Studying part-time

If you’re studying part-time, we may still be able to help.

Work out if you're studying part-time

We use a measurement called EFTS (Equivalent Full-time Student) to work out if you're studying part-time or full-time.

What you can get

If you’re studying part-time, you may only be able to get a Student Loan for compulsory course fees unless you can be classed as a full-time student.

Depending on your situation, you may also be able to get:

help with accommodation costs
a benefit from
a scholarship
help with other costs.

Classed as a full-time student

We may consider you a full-time student, even if you’re studying part-time. We call this Limited Full Time.

Limited Full Time

More information is in the following sections:

You might be considered a full-time student, even if you're studying part-time, if you're either:

studying part-time, with the support of your education provider, for one of these reasons:
- you have a medical condition
- for a reason you can’t control (eg, disability)
- it's in your academic best interests. This means if you studied full-time, you would probably fail because of academic reasons relating to your cognitive ability. But if you studied part-time, you would most likely pass more than half of the course, or
finishing an approved course that you’ve already started and doing enough papers so that you’re studying over half of a full-time course.

You usually won’t be considered ‘Limited full-time’ if your course is not available as a full-time course and only offered part-time.

Studying over half of a full-time course

To work out if you’re studying over half of a full-time course, we look at:

the number of weeks you’re studying
how many EFTS your course needs to be considered full-time and
how many EFTS you’re studying.

Examples

If you’re studying for 30 weeks, your course needs 0.75 EFTS to be full-time. You need to be studying more than half of this. This means you need to be studying more than 0.375 EFTS.

If you’re studying for 20 weeks, your course needs 0.5 EFTS to be full-time. You need to be studying more than half of this. This means you need to be studying more than 0.25 EFTS.

Step 1 - Apply for a loan or allowance

Apply online for a Student Loan or Student Allowance (if you haven't already).

Step 2 - Fill out a Limited full-time application form

You and an authorised staff member at your education provider need to fill out a Limited full-time application form.

You will be provided with a Limited full-time application form to download at the end of Apply Online.

Or, you can download the form here.

Limited full-time status application form (PDF 282.2KB)

Step 3 - Gather evidence

You may need to provide evidence of your situation - the Limited Full-time application form will tell you what to provide

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