Overview
Students who decide to discontinue their studies prior to earning their qualification may be eligible to graduate with a lower qualification or award in a process known as Early Exit. For higher education providers, these academic outcomes are reported to the government in the form of an Early Exit Packet. Paradigm offers an efficient mechanism for reporting Early Exit awards via the Course Graduation screen.
This article provides an overview of the Early Exit packet, including the relevant validation rules concerning Element 599, and details regarding the order of events that are needed for reporting an Early Exit award via TCSI.
Complexity: MEDIUM
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Key Terms and Concepts
What is an Early Exit
An early exit happens when a student, already admitted to course, chooses to discontinue their studies for one of many reasons (e.g. withdraws, transfers to complete a related course, medical reasons etc.) and satisfies the academic eligibility requirements to graduate with a lower course or award. In this sense lower means in terms of the AQF Levels. For example, a student currently undertaking a bachelor degree may be eligible for an early exit to graduate with a diploma. It is common for providers to publish information regarding eligible exit pathways for each course in their official course or handbook material.
TCSI Exit Awards Packet
https://www.tcsisupport.gov.au/reporting/hestudent/course-admission-shortcuts/exit-awards
Important Reporting Notes:
Values | Course Outcome Code (E599) | Conditions |
|---|---|---|
1 | Completed | “A student’s course outcome is to be coded as “completed” when the Provider has determined that the student has met all the requirements of the course in which the student is currently enrolled.” Source: https://www.tcsisupport.gov.au/element/599 |
2 | Withdrawn | “A student’s course outcome is to be coded as “withdrawn” where the student has formally notified the provider that they are discontinuing study in the course and they are not transferring to, or completing, a related course with the provider.” Source: https://www.tcsisupport.gov.au/element/599 |
3 | Enrolment cancelled | “A student’s course outcome is to be coded as “enrolment cancelled” where the Provider has withdrawn the student from the course due to the student’s lack of progress or other academic or disciplinary reasons.” Source: https://www.tcsisupport.gov.au/element/599 |
4 | Approved leave | “A student’s course outcome is to be coded as “approved leave” where the Provider has approved a leave of absence for the student after the student has commenced the course.” Source: https://www.tcsisupport.gov.au/element/599 |
5 | Completed but continuing a related course | “A student’s course outcome is to be coded as “completed but continuing a related course” where the student has completed the requirements of the course but will be continuing in a related course for which they will receive full credit recognition for the first course. This includes nested awards where a completion is reported for a lower or component award but the student will continue study. For example, a student completing a nested Graduate Certificate who is continuing with a Graduate Diploma or a student who is awarded a single degree (e.g. BA) but is continuing their enrolment in a related combined degree (e.g. BA/LLB).” Source: https://www.tcsisupport.gov.au/element/599 |
6 | Transfer to complete a related course | “If the student is not continuing with the course in the related course admission record, the course outcome code (E599) on that course admission packet must be revised to indicate that the student has 'transferred to complete a related course'.” Source: https://www.tcsisupport.gov.au/reporting/hestudent/course-admission-shortcuts/exit-awards “Where the student is not continuing study in the course or a related course with the provider but will be have a completion recorded (without further study) for the related course. This includes students receiving an exit award at the same or lower level.” Source: https://www.tcsisupport.gov.au/element/599 |
7 | Transfer to continue a related course | “If the student is continuing the related course admission, the exit award should be reported as ‘completed but continuing a related course'.” Source: https://www.tcsisupport.gov.au/reporting/hestudent/course-admission-shortcuts/exit-awards “Where the student is not continuing study in the course but is transferring to a related course that will require further study to meet the requirements of that second course. For example, a student who transfers from a combined degree to a related single degree but has yet to complete the single degree, or a student transferring from a bachelor pass to a bachelor honours degree but did not separately complete the pass degree.” Source: https://www.tcsisupport.gov.au/element/599 |
When to Report an Early Exit
A course enrolment is to be reported to TCSI as an Early Exit, only if it meets the following conditions:
The course enrolment in Paradigm from where the student is exiting must be assigned an enrolment status that has been mapped to one of the following Element 599 values:
2 (Withdrawn), OR
3 (Enrolment Cancelled), OR
6 (Transfer to complete a related course)
The screenshot below shows all the three possible enrolment statuses you can choose and their TCSI values.
In this example from the Edit Status Item screen https://act.edu.net.au/php/status_type_edit.php?show_status_type_search=1 , the Paradigm enrolment Status Item (represented by the Status Id field) has been mapped to a HEIMS Course Outcome Identifier E599 value to represent a Course Outcome. For the purposes of an Early Exit, the HEIMS Course Outcome Identifier can only hold a value of 2(Withdrawn), 3 Enrolment cancelled for (Cancelled), and 6 Transfer to complete a related course for (Transferred) as per the instructions: Preparing Paradigm for TCSI reporting.
Early Exit Packet Element 599
On an early exit packet the E599 outcome code must be set to either:
1 (Completed), or
5 (Completed but continuing a related course)
The Course Outcome Code (E599 ) can only be set to 5 (Completed but continuing a related course) when the course enrolment being exited has already been reported to TCSI with an E599 value set to one of the following options:
1 (Completed), OR
4 (Approved Leave), OR
5 (Completed but continuing a related course), OR
7 (Transfer to continue a related course).
Implications
NOTE
“A student’s course outcome is to be coded as “completed but continuing a related course” where the student has completed the requirements of the course but will be continuing in a related course for which they will receive full credit recognition for the first course. This includes nested awards where a completion is reported for a lower or component award but the student will continue study. For example, a student completing a nested Graduate Certificate who is continuing with a Graduate Diploma or a student who is awarded a single degree (e.g. BA) but is continuing their enrolment in a related combined degree (e.g. BA/LLB).”
Source: https://www.tcsisupport.gov.au/element/599
Workflow
2. How to REPORT an Early Exit Award in Paradigm to TCSI
NOTE
The instructions below assume that you have already followed the steps in workflow 1 and that the course enrolment outcome (E599 ) has been successfully reported to TCSI without an error.
The instructions below also assume that the student record to be reported to TCSI for an early exit is currently loaded in the system. If the student record has not yet been loaded, refer to this article on how to load a student record in Paradigm: https://silverband.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/PKB/pages/985177/Course#01.How-to-load-a-Student-Record and then load the course enrolment record where you wish to report an Early Exit.
1, 2, 3 Once the student record to be reported as an early exit is loaded, you have two ways to load the EDIT Graduation page:
In the Student Summary page (Student > Summary), go to the COURSE ENROLMENTS section and click the ACTIONS button of the course enrolment that you want to edit, or you can
Choose Student > Course Enrolment > Course menus on the side. This will display the course/s enrolled by the student.
4 Click the ACTIONS button on the right of the course enrolment of the student that you want to do an early exit.
5 After clicking the ACTIONS button, click the Edit Graduation option.
6 The Edit Graduation option will open the graduation details of the student. Scroll down and go to the EARLY EXIT AWARDS section, and click the NEW EARLY EXIT AWARD button.
7 A new section below will open for you to enter the reportable information for an early exit.
A Edu Program Id – select the course / program that the student is being awarded as part of their early exit from their course enrolment
B Course Outcome Code (E599) – select the correct outcome code here. There are only 2 possible reportable outcomes for an early exit:
1 (Completed), or
5 (Completed but continuing a related course)
C Course Outcome Date (E592) – select the date when the early exit was approved by the provider
D Entity Status – set this field to Active
8 Click the SAVE DETAILS button after filling in the required information.
After clicking the SAVE DETAILS button you should see a SUCCESS message similar to the message shown in the screenshot below.
Related Pages
Further Reading
https://www.tcsisupport.gov.au/reporting/hestudent/course-admission-shortcuts/exit-awards
https://www.tcsisupport.gov.au/element/599
Overview | Assumptions | Key Terms and Concepts | Implications | Workflow | Video | Related Pages | Further Reading