Skills Victoria

Fees for Government Funded Places

This information applies to students undertaking training courses. For information on university course fees, go to the Going to Uni website.

This page sets out the fees payable for enrolments in courses that commence on or after 1 July 2009.

For information about fees for students who started their course before 1 July 2009, go to Commencements before 1 July 2009.

Tuition fees

The tuition fee is set by the government. It is calculated based on the number of hours of enrolment, at a rate that varies depending on the category a course is in. All courses have been classified into one of 5 course categories for the purpose of calculating fees:

Foundation Skills (basic general education, English language, literacy and numeracy courses up to Certificate IV level, and the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning - Foundation level)
Skills Creation (most Certificate I and II courses, the VCE and VCAL Intermediate and Senior)
Apprenticeships and Traineeships (all courses taken as part of an apprenticeship/traineeship training contract, at any level)
Skills Building (most non-apprenticeship Certificate III and IV courses)
Skills Deepening (all non-apprenticeship Diplomas, Advanced Diplomas and vocational Graduate qualifications).

For each category there is also a set minimum, which is the lowest you should expect to pay, and a maximum, which puts an upper limit on what you will pay, even if you enrol in a large number of hours in that course.

The fees are set for each calendar year, and you normally pay according to the year when you will do the training. If your course lasts more than one year, you may pay a new tuition fee at the start of the new year, at a new hourly rate.

The fee schedules for 2009 and 2010 are shown below:

Fees that will apply between July 2009 and December 2009

Course Category	Hourly rate	Minimum	Maximum (6 months)*
Foundation Skills	Up to $1.08	$50	$250
Skills Creation	Up to $1.37	$105	$438
Apprenticeships and Trainesships	Up to $1.37	$57	$452
Skills Building	Up to $1.41	$120	$500
Skills Deepening	Up to $2.71	$225	$750

^{*Note that the maximum fees apply only for a six month period. From the start of 2010, new maximums apply, because fees are calculated on the basis of a calendar year.}

For 2010 (January to December) the schedule of fees will change to

Course Category	Hourly Rate	Minimum	Maximum
Foundation Skills	Up to $1.08	$50	$500
Skills Creation	Up to $1.40	$105	$875
Apprenticeships and Traineeships	Up to $1.37	$57	$903
Skills Building	Up to $1.62	$120	$1,000
Skills Deepening	Up to $3.25	$225	$2,000

There is also an overall annual maximum or fee cap for each year. No matter how much training you enrol in, in any course category, you cannot pay more in tuition fees than the set annual maximum. For 2009 this is $1,500.

Other fees and costs

Providers may set a Student Services and Amenities Fee to cover things like access to a library, cafeteria, counselling and student welfare services.

Providers may also charge for materials or other items. This covers materials that you will keep as your personal property, such as equipment or printed notes. It may also cover things like excursions or field trips.

Concessions or exemptions are available in some circumstances and for some courses.