Commonwealth Teaching Scholarships Round 1 Recipients

Information on this page is only relevant to Round 1 scholarship recipients.

On this page:

Recipient responsibilities and obligations

As a scholarship recipient, you are responsible for adhering to the requirements outlined in your Scholarship Agreement and the Round 1 Scholarship Guidelines.

Please note, your Scholarship Agreement is a legal contract between you and the Australian Government. You should carefully consider the impact on your scholarship before you make decisions about your studies or employment.

If you have any questions or concerns about your scholarship, you can email the Round 1 recipient email address, found in your Scholarship Agreement. Please be sure to include your CTS ID in your email. If you do not remember the Round 1 recipient email address, please email teachingscholarships@education.gov.au.

Notifiable events

If there is a change to your personal circumstances, study details, or teacher employment, you will need to complete a Notifiable Events form.

In some cases, you may be required to upload documents to support this change. The Department may contact you by email if further information or clarification is required.

Please review your Scholarship Agreement and the Round 1 Scholarship Guidelines for information on your responsibilities when it comes to reporting a change of circumstance.

It is important to note that some notifiable events may directly impact your eligibility to continue to receive a scholarship. If your scholarship is withdrawn, you may need to pay back the amount of scholarship funding you have received.

You are encouraged to contact the Round 1 recipient email address before making any changes to your studies (including study load). Once you have finished your studies, you are encouraged to contact the Commitment to Teach (CTT) email address before making any significant changes during your CTT.
 

Notifiable events may include: 

  • change of legal name
  • change of email address or phone number
  • change of residential and/or postal address
  • update to bank account details
  • change to a different university or teaching degree
  • any change to study load (noting scholarship recipients must be full-time)
  • application/granting of recognised prior learning
  • change to teaching degree completion date
  • notification of participation in an overseas exchange opportunity

Complete an accredited teaching degree Notifiable Events form

Notifiable events may include:

  • change of legal name
  • change of email address or phone number
  • change of residential and/or postal address
  • change to teacher registration
  • notification of commencement of employment as a teacher
  • notification of cessation of employment as a teacher
  • anything else reasonably likely to affect completion of your CTT obligation.
     

Reporting

You are required to confirm your continued full-time enrolment in your accredited teaching degree on an annual basis, until the completion of your studies. Once you have completed your teaching degree, you will be required to confirm your employment in an eligible teaching role. You will be contacted by the Department requesting this information. Please don’t send this information until requested.

Confirmation of enrolment evidence must be in the form of a document or letter issued by a higher education provider that includes:

  • your full name
  • name of the higher education provider
  • accredited teaching degree name
  • enrolment and study load for the full academic year (you must be full-time to remain eligible for the scholarship).

Note: If the enrolment confirmation only includes enrolment for the first semester, you will need to request a letter from your higher education provider confirming full-year enrolment.

Commitment to Teach (CTT) Obligation

You are required to confirm your teacher registration and employment in an eligible educational setting on an annual basis, until the completion of your CTT obligation.

You will be asked to provide this information each year. You should not send this information until requested.

If you withdraw or do not meet the CTT obligation, you may need to repay all or part of your scholarship funding. You are encouraged to contact the CTT email address before making any significant changes during your CTT obligation (see Notifiable events).

For further information on the CTT obligation, please review the Commitment to Teach Policy available on the Resources page.

Confirmation of employment evidence must be in the form of payslips, employment contract/s or Statement/s of Service.

This evidence should include:

  • your full name
  • name of the school you are employed at
  • your position classification
  • employment status (full-time, part-time or casual/relief)
  • employment hours (per week, fortnight or month)
  • commencement date.

Acceptable evidence should include:

  • your full name
  • name of the Teacher Regulatory Authority
  • your teacher registration number
  • date of registration
  • registration expiry or registration period
  • registration category
  • registration status/conditions.

Deferrals

If you are thinking about deferring your studies, you will need to seek agreement from your higher education provider before submitting a request to the Department to defer your scholarship obligations.

Requests to defer the scholarship will be considered on a case-by-case basis and will only be granted in exceptional circumstances. There is no guarantee that requests will be granted even if deferral of your teaching degree is supported by your higher education provider.

If your request to defer the scholarship is not granted, this may impact your eligibility to continue to receive the scholarship and you may be required to repay your scholarship funding.

Complete a Deferral Request

Withdrawals

If you decide to permanently withdraw from your teaching degree, your scholarship will be withdrawn and without an approved exemption, you may be required to pay back the scholarship funding received to date.

If you do not meet your CTT obligation, and you do not have an approved exemption or extension, you may be required to pay back all, or part of, your scholarship funding.

If you have decided to withdraw, please email the Round 1 recipient email address as soon as possible, but no later than 28 days from the change.

Exemptions

Exemptions from completing the scholarship or the CTT obligation will be considered by the Department on a case-by-case basis in accordance with the Exemption Policy. Exemptions may be granted based on extenuating circumstances such as medical or compassionate reasons which significantly impact your ability to repay the scholarship funding.

Please review the Exemption Policy to see if your circumstances meet the criteria for requesting an exemption. After reviewing the policy and your Scholarship Agreement, please email the Department for more information.

You will be required to provide supporting documents to support your request. The Department may contact you if further information or clarification is required.

Extensions

You may seek an extension to the 10-year period to complete your CTT obligation in extenuating circumstances. For further information on extenuating circumstances and requesting an extension, please review the Commitment to Teach Policy.

Resources

If you would like to review any of the policy or supporting documents, please visit the Resources page for more information.

If you have questions about the Program, your scholarship or circumstances that cannot be answered on this page, you can email the Round 1 recipient email address, found in your Scholarship Agreement. Please be sure to include your CTS ID in your email.