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Annual Report
Purpose: To determine eligibility for student loans and/or allowance by verifying students' study results.
MSD StudyLink disclosure to MoE: StudyLink provides MoE with the student's name(s) (in abbreviated form), date of birth, IRD number, first known study start, end date (date of request), known education provider(s) used by this student and student ID number.
MoE disclosure to MSD StudyLink: MoE returns to StudyLink information showing all providers and courses used by the student, course dates, course equivalent full-time student rating and course completion code.
Compliance: Compliant.
When the file is moved within StudyLink's Student Allowance and Loan system, a copy is left behind on a staging system that the file is moved across. MSD will manually delete these copies, once system testing is completed, until an automated deletion function can be set up.
| Information matching provisions | Education and Training Act 2020, schedule 9 cl 7 (previously Education Act 1989 s 307D) |
| Year authorised | 2006 |
| Year commenced | 2006 (allowances), 2010 (loans) |
| Programme type | Confirming eligibility |
| Unique identifiers | Student ID number Tax File number Student ID |
| Online transfers | Yes |
System description
The process is called the Results of Study (RoS) programme.
Tertiary education institutions (TEIs) are required to send students’ results of study information to the MoE as part of the ‘course completion’ component of their electronic single data returns. This is usually done three times during the year. By accessing the data from the Ministry of Education rather than directly from each TEI, StudyLink gains the efficiency of dealing with a single agency and avoids imposing a double reporting burden on the TEIs.
StudyLink loads a daily file of requests for RoS records to the Verification of Study[1] secure website. The file is downloaded by MoE and matched against the single data returns submitted by institutions. Response files for each request are electronically returned to StudyLink using the same secure website.
New eligibility criteria for student loans took effect during 2010/2011.
Use of IR Number in matching: MSD provides an applicant's IRD number (where known) to MoE to use in the matching process. This use has been reassessed by the Commissioner on the basis of additional information provided and is accepted as being essential to the success of the programme.
Recent activity
| Allowance applications | 2014/15 | 2015/16 | 2016/17 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 |
| Records sent for matching (including repeat requests) | 100,186 | 97,814 | 91,670 | 87,462 | 87,681 | 83,284 | 87,755 |
| Individual applications involved in matching | 69,706 | 68,389 | 63,966 | 61,614 | 61,176 | 58,677 | 61,626 |
| Notices of adverse action sent out | 6,515 | 9,295 | 8,428 | 8,356 | 8,015 | 6,063 | 7,913 |
| Successful challenges | 3,025 | 2,008 | 1,722 | 1,884 | 1,950 | 1,948 | 2,163 |
Matching requests for allowance applications are repeated if necessary.
| Loan applications | 2014/15 | 2015/16 | 2016/17 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 |
| Records sent for matching | 14,002 | 16,028 | 15,990 | 15,996 | 16,561 | 16,494 | 14,343 |
| Notices of adverse action sent out | 2,077 | 1,741 | 1,481 | 1,433 | 1,374 | 1,325 | 1,385 |
| Successful challenges | 335 | 349 | 290 | 315 | 295 | 345 | 356 |
Individuals may make more than one application for loans and/or allowances in a year.
Notices of adverse action are sent when StudyLink cannot satisfactorily match the information supplied, or when the response indicated eligibility criteria have not been met. More than one adverse action letter may be sent for an application (for example a notification letter and a letter subsequently declining their application).
Most successful challenges to adverse action notices result from the applicant providing clarification of details or updated information when contacted. This is recorded as a successful challenge. An application may also be reinstated if the student provides additional information about their study history, or successfully applies for an exemption.
The utility of this provision was assessed in the report MSD Studylink Matches (January 2014) and subsequently in Ministry of Social Development information matching; review of statutory authorities for information matching (September 2019).
[1] See the Educational Institutions/MSD Loans and Allowances Programme.
