When an Australian provider closes in 2026: helping students into a TPS placement

When an Australian provider stops delivering a course, the transfer restriction that normally locks a student into their first six months stops applying. Standard 7.1 of the National Code of Practice for Providers of Education and Training to Overseas Students 2018 says a registered provider must not knowingly enrol an overseas student seeking to transfer before the student has completed six months of their principal course — but Standard 7.1.1 exempts the case where the releasing registered provider, or the course the student is enrolled in, has ceased to be registered. That exemption is the hinge of a Tuition Protection Service (TPS) placement: it lets a receiving provider enrol the student without a release letter. Part A of the same instrument describes the TPS as a placement and refund service for overseas students whose providers are unable to fully deliver their course, giving the student either a way to complete their studies in another course or with another registered provider, or a refund of unspent tuition fees.

This article works from the National Code 2018 as published on the Federal Register of Legislation — Part A (The Education Services for Overseas Students Framework), Standard 7 (Overseas student transfers) and the Definitions — as at the official page retrieved 2 September 2026. It explains how the rules are framed; it is general information, not advice on any individual student's case, and the operative text and current settings should always be confirmed against the official register.

What counts as a closure, and what the TPS is asked to do

Two definitions do most of the work. Provider default is where the registered provider fails to provide a course, or ceases to provide a course, to an overseas student within the meaning of section 46A of the Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000 (ESOS Act). Student default is a different thing — where an overseas student does not start a course, or withdraws from a course, as defined in section 47A(2) of the ESOS Act. Getting the classification right matters because the TPS placement and refund service is built around the provider's failure to deliver, not around a student's change of mind.

Part A also sets out who runs what. The Commonwealth Department of Education and Training is responsible for overarching policy and administration of the ESOS Act framework, including the TPS framework and management of PRISMS — the Provider Registration and International Student Management System used to process information given to the Secretary of the department by registered providers. The Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) is the ESOS agency for vocational education and training providers, and the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) is the ESOS agency for higher education providers; both can register providers and take enforcement action, including suspension or cancellation of registration.

Why the six-month rule stops being a problem

Standard 7.1's restriction is about timing: a receiving provider must not knowingly enrol a transferring student before the student completes six months of their principal course (or, in the school sector, the first six months of the first registered school sector course). The principal course of study is the main course where a student visa has been issued for multiple courses, normally the final one in the package. The restriction then gives way in four situations:

Route under Standard 7.1	What has to be true	What proves it on file	Cost rule
7.1.1 — provider or course ceased to be registered	The releasing provider, or the course, is no longer registered	CRICOS registration status for that provider and course	No release is granted, so no release fee arises
7.1.2 — ESOS agency sanction	A sanction on the provider's registration prevents the student continuing	The regulator's sanction record	No release is granted
7.1.3 — release agreed and recorded	The releasing provider agrees and records the date of effect and reason in PRISMS	PRISMS entry with date of effect and reason	Standard 7.4: the release must be at no cost to the student
7.1.4 — government sponsor support	The sponsor considers the change in the student's best interests and gives written support	Written sponsor support	No release is granted

Because Standard 7.1 is framed as what a provider must not knowingly do, the receiving provider has to be satisfied on its own record that an exemption actually applies. In practice the agent's first job is to hand the receiving provider documentary confirmation that the releasing provider or the course has ceased to be registered, rather than a release letter that no one is left to issue.

Where the provider is still registered but has stopped delivering properly, the 7.1.1 route is not yet open. Standard 7.2 — which applies for the purposes of a 7.1.3 release — requires providers to hold and implement a documented transfer policy covering the steps for a written request, including that the student must provide a valid enrolment offer from another registered provider, and the circumstances in which a transfer will be granted because it is in the student's best interests. Those listed circumstances include the provider failing to deliver the course as outlined in the written agreement (7.2.2.3), the student's reasonable expectations about the current course not being met (7.2.2.4), and evidence that the student was misled by the provider or an education or migration agent about the provider or its course (7.2.2.5). The policy must also state reasonable grounds for refusal and a reasonable timeframe for assessing and replying.

Finding a receiving provider that the placement can actually land in

Registration is narrower than most students assume. Under the Definitions, a registered provider for a course for a location means a provider that is registered to provide the course at that location, and CRICOS — the Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students — is the register prescribed under section 14A of the ESOS Act. A provider being on CRICOS is not the same as it being registered for the specific replacement course at the specific campus being offered.

Two other definitions shape the shortlist. Course credit means exemption from enrolment in a particular part of the course as a result of previous study, experience or recognition of a competency currently held, including academic credit and recognition of prior learning — which is why the placement offer should state what the student gets credited for, so the new course does not quietly run longer than the visa allows. And the receiving provider still has to recruit responsibly under Standard 2, satisfying itself the student is appropriately qualified for the course, including English language proficiency, educational qualifications and work experience. A placement that ignores this tends to unravel later under Standard 8, which requires providers to support students to complete within the required duration and meet attendance and progress conditions — and under subsection 19(2) of the ESOS Act, providers must notify the Commonwealth when students breach those conditions.

Before the student accepts, Standard 3 requires a written agreement setting out the course and related education services, tuition and non-tuition fees payable, and refund policies. Reading the refund clause at this stage is cheaper than disputing it later.

Re-issuing the CoE: what the document does and who can issue it

A Confirmation of Enrolment (CoE) is a document, provided electronically, issued by the registered provider to intending overseas students, which must accompany their application for a student visa; it confirms the student's eligibility to enrol in that particular course of that provider. Only a registered provider issues one. The Definitions' description of recruitment — the pre-enrolment processes of engaging and assisting overseas students to apply for a place in a course, including assistance with administrative issues and the issuing of a CoE for a student visa application — makes clear what an agent can do here: prepare and coordinate, not issue.

The receiving provider's CoE is therefore the document that carries the placement. In a 7.1.1 closure there is usually no releasing provider able to record a release in PRISMS under 7.1.3, so the receiving provider's file note explaining why the exemption applies is what makes the enrolment defensible if it is ever reviewed. Standard 7.4 separately requires that, where a release is granted, the releasing provider advise the student to seek advice on whether a new student visa is required; the same question should be settled from official sources whenever the new course changes the student's principal course or the total duration of study.

Who is allowed to charge for this work

Start with the one rule the National Code states outright: Standard 7.4 provides that if a release is granted, it must be at no cost to the overseas student. A closing provider cannot put a fee on the release itself.

Beyond that, the Code distinguishes two different roles. A migration agent is a person registered as a migration agent under section 286 of the Migration Act 1958. An education agent is dealt with separately under Standard 4, which requires registered providers to ensure their education agents act ethically, honestly and in the best interests of overseas students and uphold the reputation of Australia's international education sector. Fee and commission arrangements for education agents are not a matter of improvisation: the National Code 2018 was amended by the National Code of Practice for Providers of Education and Training to Overseas Students Amendment (Education Agent Commissions) Instrument 2026 (F2026L00033), registered 20 January 2026 and commencing 21 January 2026, which added Standards 4.7 and 4.8 and amended the Definitions. The operative text of those provisions should be read directly on the Federal Register of Legislation, which is the authoritative source, and any arrangement entered into after that date should be checked against it.

Whether a particular payment is a commission for education agent work or a fee for something else depends on that framework and on the Migration Act framework for registered migration agents — two different regimes, and this article does not resolve which applies to a given invoice. What can be said safely is structural: the Code's own cost rule bites on the release, and any agent remuneration connected to a placement sits inside Standard 4 as amended in 2026. This is general information rather than a determination about any specific fee arrangement.

Under-18 students: the steps that decide whether the placement is valid

Standard 7.3 adds two requirements that are easy to miss in a scramble. First, the registered provider must have written confirmation that the student's parent or legal guardian supports the transfer. Second, where the student is not being cared for in Australia by a parent or suitable nominated relative, the receiving provider must confirm that it accepts responsibility for approving the student's accommodation, support and general welfare arrangements in accordance with Standard 5 (Younger overseas students).

Standard 5 is not a formality: providers of students aged under 18 must meet child welfare and protection requirements, give students emergency contact information and information about how to report actual or alleged abuse, and where they have taken on responsibility for approving welfare arrangements for migration purposes, ensure those arrangements are suitable, ongoing and appropriately managed until the student turns 18. A receiving provider that cannot or will not confirm welfare responsibility cannot complete the transfer, whatever the TPS placement offer says.

If a release is refused instead of granted

Where the 7.1.3 path is the one in play, Standard 7.5 requires the provider to inform the student in writing of the reasons for refusal and of the right to access the provider's complaints and appeals process under Standard 10 within 20 working days. Standard 7.6 then prevents the provider from finalising the student's refusal status in PRISMS until the appeal finds in favour of the provider, or the student chooses not to access the complaints and appeals process within that 20 working day period, or the student withdraws from the process. Standard 7.7 requires providers to keep records of all release requests, and of the assessment and decision, for two years after the student ceases to be an accepted student — a useful benchmark for how long an agent should keep their own file.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the student's visa end as soon as the provider closes?

Nothing in Standard 7 treats a provider's closure as ending a visa. What the Code requires is procedural: under Standard 7.4, where a release is granted, the releasing provider must advise the student to seek advice on whether a new student visa is required. Current visa requirements should be confirmed against official sources, as published settings can change.

Can a receiving provider refuse the student because six months have not passed?

Not on that basis alone, if the exemption applies. Standard 7.1.1 removes the six-month restriction where the releasing provider, or the course in which the student is enrolled, has ceased to be registered, and 7.1.2 does the same where an ESOS agency sanction prevents the student from continuing. Standard 2 still lets the receiving provider assess whether the student is appropriately qualified for the replacement course.

Can the closing provider charge for the release letter?

No, where a release is granted. Standard 7.4 states that the release must be at no cost to the overseas student. In a 7.1.1 closure, no release is granted at all, because the restriction simply does not apply.

Can an education agent charge for arranging a TPS placement?

The National Code does not set a fee for that work. What it does is require education agents to act ethically, honestly and in the student's best interests under Standard 4, and it amended that Standard through the Education Agent Commissions Instrument 2026 (F2026L00033), which commenced on 21 January 2026 by adding Standards 4.7 and 4.8. The operative rules should be read on the Federal Register of Legislation.

Who issues the new CoE after a placement is accepted?

The receiving registered provider. A CoE is issued electronically by the registered provider and confirms the student's eligibility to enrol in that particular course; it must accompany the student visa application. An agent can assist with the administrative steps but cannot issue the document.

What extra steps apply if the student is under 18?

Two. Under Standard 7.3 there must be written confirmation that the parent or legal guardian supports the transfer, and where the student is not cared for in Australia by a parent or suitable nominated relative, the receiving provider must confirm it accepts responsibility for approving the student's accommodation, support and general welfare arrangements under Standard 5.

What if the provider is still registered but has stopped teaching properly?

The 7.1.1 exemption is not yet available, so the transfer normally runs through Standard 7.1.3 and the provider's documented policy under 7.2. That policy must identify circumstances in which a transfer is in the student's best interests, expressly including the provider failing to deliver the course as outlined in the written agreement, and must allow a reasonable timeframe for assessing the request.