The 120/200 week limit for tertiary study

A student usually has a maximum of 200 weeks entitlement to a Student Allowance for tertiary study, or if aged 40 or over at the date they start study, a maximum of 120 weeks entitlement.

Weeks that do not count towards the 120/200 week limit include:

• study at a secondary school
• transition courses
• weeks where the payments received have been refunded in accordance with the refund of payments after withdrawal requirements

A student may receive an extension to their 120/200 week limit when there are special circumstances.

Students, who have been approved to study less than full-time under the 'limited full-time' provisions, can receive an extension beyond the 120/200 week limit, provided there are special circumstances.

For study starting on or after 1 January 2014, students aged 40 years or over at their study start date, have a maximum of 120 weeks entitlement.

This means that:

• if a student is aged 40 or over at the date they start study, and they have already used 120 or more weeks of Student Allowance, they will not be entitled to a Student Allowance
• if a student is aged 40 or over at the date they start study, and they have used less than 120 weeks of Student Allowance, they will be able to receive up to a maximum of 120 weeks of Student Allowance
• if a student is 39 years of age at the date they start a course of study, and they turn 40 years old during that course of study, they are assessed under the 200 week limit for the duration of that course of study

Those students whose course of study started in 2013 and carried over into 2014 had an entitlement of up to 200 weeks limit for the duration of that course of study.

The course of study referred to above is the period of study covered by the student's application.

Students who studied and received a Student Allowance in 2013 were entitled to receive a Student Allowance up until 31 December 2014, or until they reached their 200 week limit to a Student Allowance, whichever came first.

The study in 2014 did not need to be towards the same qualification as the study in 2013.

There are no other 'transitional' provisions, including any form of discretion, available to vary the maximum entitlement to 120 weeks for students aged 40 years or over.

Students who had an extension to the 200 week limit approved before 1 January 2014 continued to be eligible for the extension after 1 January 2014.

Applications for an extension under the 'special circumstances' provision on or after 1 January 2014 cannot be approved if they only want to avoid the change to the maximum entitlement under the Regulations.

For study starting on or after 1 January 2011, the transition course provision in regulation 20 was removed.

The Minister of Tertiary Education had previously only recognised the University of Otago, Foundation Studies Certificate, (PC code OO0372) as a transition course.

For study starting on or after 1 January 2013, extensions are not available for Recognised Long Programmes, study that is equivalent to a Recognised Long Programme and retraining for employment in a programme of national interest.

Students who had an extension approved for study before 1 January 2013 for a Recognised Long Programme, a programme equivalent to a Recognised Long Programme or retraining for employment in a programme of national interest, retained their eligibility to the exemption after 1 January 2013.