Student Enrolment Census

2. Time fraction assessment

A time fraction must be recorded for each student included in the census. In the majority of cases, students study at only one school and are recorded with a full-time equivalent (FTE) time fraction of 1.0.

Where a student is enrolled in more than one school, schools are entitled to share the 1.0 FTE according to the workload and time at each school.

Part-time students

Students undertaking a workload less than the normal workload for that year level are to be recorded as part-time students.

Part-time students (including registered home schooling students) are counted pro rata at a time fraction assessed against the school’s normal workload for that year level.

Students undertaking 4 or more VCE units at one school are deemed to be undertaking a full VCE workload and count as 1.0 FTE. In the majority of cases, students study at only one school. Where a student is enrolled in more than one school the student’s time fraction at each school must add up to 1.0 FTE overall. Schools are entitled to share students according to the workload and time at each school.

In the case of students attending more than one school, each school must report part-time time fractions, calculated as a proportion of a full time student's workload, for each school attended by the student concerned. The total FTE for a student over all schools attended must not be greater than 1.0.

Part time students have a FTE time fraction less than 1.0 which must be recorded to one decimal place (for example, 0.8).

Post-compulsory pathways

Students in the post-compulsory years should have the opportunity to participate in a broad range of pathways programs that result in successful transition to further education and employment. A number of options are available for students in the post-compulsory years.

Advice is provided below on how student enrolments are to be treated in relation to these options.

VCE Vocational Major

For the purposes of SRP funding, VCE Vocational Major studies are considered equivalent to VCE studies.

Vocational Educational and Training (VET) courses in senior schooling

The time spent by students in VCE VET is part of the normal VCE school workload.

Block credit arrangements for VET courses outside VCE VET

In order for block credit study to be counted towards the FTE workload at the school and to be eligible for SRP funding, students undertaking a VET program under approved block credit arrangements are required to meet all the criteria listed below as follows:

• students are enrolled in a VET/Further Education (FE) program at AQF Level II or above
• the VET program is an agreed part of the student’s full-time workload
• the school has a signed Memorandum of Understanding with an external provider for the delivery of the VET/FE program or the school delivering the program is a Registered Training Organisation (RTO) and the program is within their Scope of Registration.

If these criteria are not met, the student’s time fraction is to be calculated according to Figure 1 below, excluding the VET/FE studies that do not meet the above criteria.

Where the student’s time fraction is less than 1.0, there will be no additional time fraction added relating to the block credit studies.

School based apprenticeships and traineeships

The time spent by students in the School Based Apprenticeship or Traineeship program is part of the normal VCE (including the VCE Vocational Major) workload. For SRP funding purposes, the student’s time fraction is to be calculated according to Figure 1, excluding those VCE (including the VCE Vocational Major) VET units that are delivered by a RTO and for which the RTO is paid directly by the department (as would ordinarily be the case for School Based Apprenticeships and Traineeships).

Where the student’s time fraction is less than 1.0, schools may add an additional 0.1 to the time fraction in Figure 1 in recognition of the support schools provide for the School Based Apprenticeship and Traineeship program component of the VCE (including the VCE Vocational Major).

Head Start apprenticeships and traineeships

Students undertaking a Head Start apprenticeship or traineeship are counted as having a normal VCE (including the VCE Vocational Major) workload. For SRP purposes, Head Start students are eligible for the full-time fraction regardless of the actual time spent at school.

Schools will receive funding for Head Start students commencing the program in Year 10 over 3 or 4 years, while ensuring an individual student is not funded more than 3.0 FTE by the time they complete their Year 12 qualification. If a student commences Head Start in Year 11, they must not be funded more than 2.0 FTE by the time they complete their Year 12 qualification.

Head Start students must be counted as follows:

• Year 10 – include in census as SRP funded at 1.0 FTE
• Year 11 – include in census as SRP funded at 1.0 FTE
• Year 12
  • if a student is not completing Year 12 in the current year, include in census as SRP funded at 0.5 FTE
  • if a student is completing Year 12 in the current year and has been counted more than 2.0 FTE since commencing Head Start, count as 0.5 FTE
  • if a student is completing Year 12 in the current year, and has been counted no more than 2.0 FTE since starting Head Start, include in census as SRP funded at 1.0 FTE*.

Schools must document Head Start students and record their time fractions in the student’s file for review by an enrolment verifier if requested.

* If a student decides to complete Year 12 over 2 years, they would need to be included as non-SRP funded in the census in the subsequent year.

Students studying at more than one school

As a general rule, the time fraction for a student enrolled in more than one school should be adjusted by the schools involved to ensure that the student's time fraction at each school reflects the time actually spent and the workload undertaken. The student’s total time fraction must not exceed 1.0 FTE across all of the schools attended.

In some circumstances, the home school may prefer to count a student who is also studying at another school for the full-time fraction (usually 1.0 FTE) and negotiate an appropriate transfer of resources to the second school. In this case, the second school would not include that student in their census counts. Shared VET programs are one example where this transfer of resources has been a preferred option. For instructions on recording such arrangements on CASES21 see Appendix: CASES21 instructions

Students also studying at Virtual School Victoria, Victorian School of Languages or Centre for Higher Education Studies

Students undertaking subjects by correspondence tuition through Virtual School Victoria (VSV) (formerly Distance Education Centre Victoria) or the Victorian School of Languages (VSL) may be counted by their home school as part-time students.

Centre for Higher Education Studies (CHES) provides high-achieving and high-ability senior secondary students with an option to undertake select VCE subjects and/or a tertiary-level Higher Education Study subject.

Students undertaking VCE subjects (that would be normally resourced through the CHES SRP), such as VCE Extended Investigation (Unit 3/4) or VCE Algorithmics (Unit 3/4) must be counted by their home school as part-time students.

Schools must use Figure 2 to determine and claim the appropriate time fraction (FTE) for students undertaking combinations of units studied at the school and VSV/VSL/CHES.

Saturday language classes conducted by the VSL are to be disregarded in calculating a student’s time fraction at a school.

Tertiary level Higher Education Studies subjects (that do not have a VCE Study Design) conducted through CHES are to be disregarded in the calculation of a student’s time fraction at a school.

Note that 0.1 FTE has been added to the student’s time fraction at the school, in recognition of the support provided by the school for the student’s Virtual School studies and CHES VCE courses. For a student undertaking 4 VCE units at school and one VCE unit at Virtual School/CHES the student is counted at the school at a time fraction of 0.9 FTE, even though the normal workload breakdown for the student would indicate the school should count the student at 0.8 and Virtual School/CHES at 0.2 FTE. This differs from the situation where a student is enrolled in more than one school and the student’s time fraction at each school must add up to 1.0 FTE overall.

Students in all school years up to and including Year 10 who are undertaking a full school workload (6 or more subjects) and studying no more than one subject by correspondence will count as full-time at the home school. If any student studies more than one subject by correspondence or fewer than 6 school subjects, that student must be counted part-time at each location with the time fractions shared between the school and VSV according to their workload.

This approach also applies to CHES, however it should be noted that it is recommended that students should be enrolled in Year 11 or 12 to undertake a subject at CHES. Any exemptions to this will require an agreement with the CHES Principal with the time fractions shared between schools.

Students at English Language Schools or English Language Centres

Students at English Language Schools or English Language Centres are counted at these locations and must not be included in the census counts of the school at which they were originally enrolled.

The only exception is for students in Outposted Programs for English as an Additional Language who must be counted at their home school rather than at the school where the outposting is conducted.

Students registered for home schooling

Students registered for home schooling who partially enrol at a school should be counted as part-time students according to their agreed attendance ratio.

The remainder of the time fraction must be assigned to the ‘home schooling’ option on CASES21.

Partially enrolled home schooling students must be marked absent when they are not in attendance for the activity or program for which they are enrolled.

Partial enrolment in school is only available to registered home schooling students of compulsory school age.