TCSI VSL Reporting
Introduction
VET Student Loan is an Optional Module
VET Student Loans started 1 January 2017 replacing VET FEE- HELP scheme. The VET Student Loans program offers greater protection for students and focuses on courses that address industry needs, creating better opportunities for employment. VET Student Loans offers income contingent loan support to eligible students studying certain diploma level and above vocational education and training qualifications. Eligible students are entitled for loans up to a capped amount.
To support this business requirement, Meshed RTOManager has the functionality to support VSL-approved Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) in managing this process.
VSL User Credentials
To setup VSL user credentials in the system, follow the instructions below:
Click Admin > Configuration and Setup > College Info
Scroll down the College info page and look for the VSL Information section.
Enter your Organisation ID and VSL User Name
Click View/Reset Password
Click Update to save changes
Note- To obtain an Organisation ID and VSL Username, a Provider is required to apply to become a VET Student Loan provider.
VSL Courses
To update an existing Course with VET Student Loan information, follow the instructions below:
Click Courses > Course
Identify the VET Course to edit in the list.
Click the Edit Action Icon
To know more about the Courses eligible for VET Student loan and their Loan Caps see VET Student Loans (Courses and Loan Caps) Determination.
In the Specific Information section, select FEE-HELP Yes to indicate that this Course is enabled for VET Student Loan.
Enter the FEE-HELP Study Load on the field provided.
Select the FEE-HELP Study Type from the drop-down. This should match with the Qualification Level of the Course.
Click Record Now to save the changes.
A confirmation message will appear on the page
VSL Students
On the Student Profile Summary, click the TCSI VSL action icon
Fill in Student Related Information.
The information that needs to be filled up
Citizenship Code
Employment Status
Citizenship Effective from Date
The date from which the citizenship code or status for the student is valid
Tax File Number
Tax File Number (TFN) is greyed out and can only be updated by the user with special permission. Go to Admin >> Setup Permission section to assign this permission.
Year of Arrival in Australia
CHESSN Number
Add ab existing CHESSN Number or create a new one for the student
Level Left School
Attended Year 12?
Note: If a student attended Year 12, the system will ask for the Year, State, Student Number and School Name attended.
Attended HEP?
HEP stands for Higher Education Providers
Note: If a student attended previous HEP, the system will ask for the Year, Student Number and the Credit Provider Code attended
Click Add to save Student TCSI VSL information
To enter Student Course Information, move to the other tab called “Student Course Information”
Enter the course related information as per the snapshot, the following needs to be recorded:
Basis for Admission Code
Mode of Attendance Code
Attendance Type
Remission Reason Code
Note- Remission Reason Code must only be populated when applicable.
Student Status Code
Highest Attainment Code
Previous RTS EFTSL
The total EFTSL value that has been consumed at previous Higher Education Provider by a student who was enrolled in those HE Provider under the Research Training Program (RTP) and who is enrolled at the current university under the same program.
This is not required for VSL Students.
Total Exemption Granted
For students with a commencement date of 2007 or earlier; the percentage of the course's requirements over all its stages for which exemption was granted by the time the requirements of the course were completed.
This element should be collected only for students with a commencement date of 2007 or earlier.
Completion Percentage Code
A code that indicates the percentage of a course completion in a joint degree program that is recognised by a provider.
This element is no longer required.
Study Reason Code
Labour Force Status Code
If the student has been granted RPL (Recognition of Prior Learning) or Credit, that can also be recorded by ticking the checkbox “Previous Study RPL or Credit Offered?”
The system will then prompt you to record Provider Code, Credit Used and Details for previous study credit offered.
You can also enter the “OS- HELP Information” for the student if required
Primary Country of Study Code
Secondary Country of Study Code
Language Code
Language Study Commencement Date
A date to link a student's record for OS-HELP language study with their related OS-HELP record for study in Asia
HELP Debt Incurral Date
The date on which the student incurred their OS-HELP or SA-HELP debt
Click “Add” to record the Student’s Course Information.
Student USI
USI stands for Unique Student Identifier. It is a reference number made of a combination of 10 numbers and letters assigned by the Office of the Student Identifiers Registrar (OSIR) which uniquely identifies an individual. Education providers can assist a student to apply for a USI if they have the student’s consent.
Using our system, you can create, locate or verify USI for students.
Student VSL Fee Information
Student VET Student Loan Fee information is used for:
VSL reporting
Commonwealth Assistance Notice (CAN)
VET Student Loan Statement of Covered Fees Notice
VET Student Loan Fee Notice
To update the Student VET Student Loan Fee information, follow the instructions below:
Click Student > Student Management Homepage.
Search for the Student using information e.g. Student ID
Click Search
The Student name will appear on the list. Click this icon
to go to Student Profile Summary
On the Student Profile Summary, click the Result Action Icon
For the required Subject, click the Update Outcome Action Icon
The Edit Student Result Window is shown
The following VSL related information can be edited:
Mode of attendance
Student Status Code
Subject Tuition Fee
Amount Paid/Fee Paid Upfront
Discount
EFTSL Value
Census Date
Subject Completion Date
Course Assurance Indicator
Loan Fee
Help Loan Amount
Remission Reason
Click the Save This Action Icon to save the information
Generate Bulk CAN/Invoice Notice
This function can be found under Compliance Tab and is used to generate CAN and Invoice Notices in bulk.
To generate a CAN, go to Compliance>> Generate Bulk CAN/Invoice Notice.
You can then search based on the campus, course, subjects and the census dates. The list can be further filtered down based on the student IDs.
You can then click on the first PDF button to generate the CAN or the first Magnifying glass icon to preview the CAN. Or You can then click on the last PDF to preview the Invoice Notice.
Once you click the PDF button to generate the CAN or Invoice Notice, a success message appears on the screen with a button to Download the PDF file.
TCSI VSL Reporting
All VET Student Loan (VSL) providers (‘providers’) that are approved under the VET Student Loans Act 2016 are required to report data for the VSL Data Collections. This document sets out the reporting requirements for VSL Data Collections for the 2023 reporting year, for implementation through the Tertiary Collection of Student Information (TCSI).
All data is reported in data packets, as described in this document. Each packet comprises data elements. Detailed specifications for each data element are available by searching this website.
Some data packets include ‘extensions’, which enable providers to report more than one value for a data element or a group of data elements. These groups may be time-based and allow the reporting of changes in the characteristic of a course, student, etc. through time.
Reporting method
All data can be reported through:
an application programming interface (API) from each provider's student management system to the Government or
Providers can report new and revised data as soon as the data is available. The system can receive information about past events and some events that are planned to occur (e.g. the establishment of a course in the following year).
To report VSL data, click on the TCSI icon
available on the home page.
The VSL reporting page is displayed
Before you can start data reporting using TCSI API feature, PRODA needs to be setup and linked to RTOManager System. To create a new B2B device, you need to log into PRODA at https://proda.humanservices.gov.au/prodalogin/pages/public/login.jsf
Once you are logged in you need to locate the organisation and then create a B2B device for the organisation which is used to link the RTOM system and the TCSI portal together. To create B2B device, the following steps must be completed:
Log into PRODA using your credentials or digital identity.
Go to “Organisations”
Click on your organization and go to Service Provider. Check if “Tertiary Collection of Student Services” (TCSI) is added as a Service Provider. If not, you need to add “Tertiary Collection of Student Services” as the Service Provider to link the TCSI service with your PRODA account. T add click on “Add Service Provider” and link TCSI.
Click on “B2B” devices
You can then provide the Device Name and description if required and click on “Register Device”. Once the device is registered, you will receive B2B device information which will be used to link RTOM with TCSI service.
The information will include:
Device Activation code
PRODA RA (Organisation)
Device Name
Once you have these details, go to RTO Manager system and click on TCSI icon on the homepage. Go to “Configure PRODA”
In the ‘Configure PRODA’ page, enter the details as received when creating the B2B device and click “Save”. Once the details are saved, “Activate” option will be highlighted. Click Activate and then click “Get Token” to check if the integration is running fine.
Note- Please note the expiry date for your B2B devices as you must create a new B2B device before the current one expires or extend the expiry date of the current B2B device.
Once the setup is done, the VSL reporting can be done using the API.
Data is reported in packets to TCSI. The sequence is which the data packets must be reported to TCSI are:
Course - The course packet is used to report data on the approved courses that are offered by the provider.
Campus - Campus or the delivery location packet is used to report data on the delivery locations from which providers deliver their units of study.
Student - The student packet is used to report key identity, address, and demographic data for students at the provider.
Course Admission- The course admission packet is used to report the admission of students into courses and provide data on aspects of the student's admission and engagement in the course. Each course admission packet must be linked to an established student packet and an established course packet.
Unit Enrolment -The unit enrolment packet is used to report a student's enrolment in units of study. Each unit enrolment packet must be linked to an established course admission packet and an established delivery location packet.
Reporting data
Course Packet
To report a relevant course of study to TCSI VSL, go to Course>> edit course and ensure that the following is recorded;
The course needs to be a VSL approved course for the provider.
Course effective from date must be recorded while course effective to date is optional.
The course ‘Fee Help Study Load’ must be recorded.
The course needs to be marked as “TCSI Reportable” “Yes”.
The course will appear to as a new record in the TCSI grid to report
Press the magnifying glass icon to preview the record before sending it to TCSI.
Press the green tick icon to send the record to TCSI.
The record gets reported and receives a UID.
Campus packet
To report a campus or delivery location to TCSI, go to Admin >> Campus/Training Venue/room >> Manage venue and record the venue information.
Note- Venue effective from date must be recorded while venue effective to date is optional.
Click “Add New” to add the training venue. The record will appear in the TCSI grid as a new record to be reported.
Press the magnifying glass icon o preview the record before sending it to TCSI.
Press the green tick icon to send the record to TCSI.
The record gets reported and receives a UID.
Student Packet
To report a student record to TCSI, the following conditions must be met;
The student must meet the residency requirements and be eligible for VSL. The student citizenship code must be 1, 2 , or 8.
The student must have a valid USI and CHESSN if available.
The student must be enrolled in an approved VSL course.
The TCSI VSL information for student and student course must be recorded.
A valid TFN must be recorded for the student if the student accesses a VSL loan and has a TFN.
Record the relevant student related information on the TCSI VSL data recording page
The student record will then appear in the TCSI grid to be reported under the student packet.
Press the magnifying glass icon to preview the record before sending it to TCSI.
Press the green tick icon to send the record to TCSI.
The record gets reported and receives a UID.
Note: Additional information such as disability can be recorded for the student in the TCSI VSL Student Information page. The disabilities recorded for the student will be sent along with the student record to TCSI.
Select the disabilities for the student and click “Update” to record.
Course Admission Packet
Record student’s course-related information on the TCSI page and the student’s course admission record will start to appear in the TCSI reporting grid.
Press the magnifying glass icon to preview the record before sending it to TCSI.
Press the green tick icon to send the record to TCSI.
The record gets reported and receives a UID.
Unit Enrolment Packet
Once the course admission packet for the student is submitted, the relevant unit enrolments for the course can be reported as well.
To enrol units for the student, go to the student result page by clicking on the edit icon. You can then fill in the unit enrolment related information and enrol the unit for the student.
Once the unit is enrolled for the student, you can view the FEE-HELP related information for the unit enrolment. This information like Student Status Code, Mode of Attendance Code and Remission Reason Code are pre-filled from the student TCSI VSL information recorded in the earlier stage. Subject tuition fee and EFTSL value are populated from the Manage Course Structure page. Loan fee is populated from the Course setup page.
You can update the values on this page for the unit enrolment as required and click save to record the information.
Note- For a unit enrolment to be reported to TCSI, census date is a mandatory field. If the unit does not have a census date associated to it, the unit will not appear for reporting in the TCSI grid.
The unit will now appear on the TCSI reporting page to be reported for the student.
Press the magnifying glass icon to preview the record before sending it to TCSI.
Press the green tick icon to send the record to TCSI.
The record gets reported and receives a UID.
To validate your VSL data successfully and to resolve the real time and scheduled validation errors if any, please refer to the TCSI Data Validation sheets available at: https://www.tcsisupport.gov.au/validations-download
You can further check the reporting requirements and fundamentals of VSL Data Reporting at the TCSI Support Page https://www.tcsisupport.gov.au/reporting/vsl/requirements