If your education provider closes: the Tuition Protection Service

What the Tuition Protection Service is

The TPS is a government framework established under the ESOS Act specifically to protect international students if their education provider is unable to fully deliver a course they've paid for — most commonly because the provider closes, goes into liquidation, or has its registration to teach international students cancelled.

It's not insurance you buy or opt into — every registered provider is legally required to be covered, and the protection applies automatically to affected students the moment a provider default is confirmed and the TPS activates for that provider. You don't need to have done anything in advance to be covered; you find out your provider has defaulted, and the TPS process starts from there.

Your two options under the TPS

When a provider defaults, the ESOS framework gives affected students, in broad terms, two options: placement in an equivalent course with an alternative provider at no extra cost for the tuition already paid, or a refund of the tuition fees for the portion of the course you hadn't yet received.

Placement is often the default option offered first, arranged through the TPS to find a genuinely comparable course — same or similar qualification, similar timeframe — with a different provider, so you can continue your studies with minimal disruption to your overall plan. A refund is generally available if placement isn't suitable for your circumstances or if you'd prefer not to continue with an alternative provider.

Which option best fits your situation is a personal decision — course continuity and timeline matter differently depending on how close you were to finishing, whether the alternative provider's location and course structure work for you, and how a change affects your visa. That last part is exactly the kind of question worth raising with a MARA-registered migration agent, since a change in provider or course length can have visa implications beyond the TPS process itself.

How the process actually unfolds

When a provider ceases operating, the TPS typically activates within days to a few weeks of the closure being confirmed — the Department of Education publishes closure notices as they happen, and affected students are generally contacted directly with information about their specific options.

A liquidator is usually appointed to the closed provider in parallel with the TPS process, but the TPS itself operates independently of the liquidation — you don't need to wait for the liquidation to conclude before your placement or refund options are available. If you've lost contact with your provider and suspect they may have closed, checking the Department of Education's TPS closure notices directly is the fastest way to confirm your provider's status.

During this period, keep your enrolment and payment records accessible — receipts, enrolment confirmation, and your Confirmation of Enrolment — since you'll likely need them to confirm your eligibility and the amount of unspent tuition the TPS process is working from.

What TPS does not cover

The TPS protects the tuition fee component specifically tied to your course delivery — it isn't a general compensation scheme for every cost or inconvenience a provider closure causes. Costs like relocation, lost wages, or general disruption sit outside what the TPS is designed to address, even though they're real and often significant.

The TPS also doesn't resolve your visa status directly. If your provider closes, your Confirmation of Enrolment is affected, and depending on your circumstances that can have implications for your student visa conditions. This is precisely the situation where getting advice from a MARA-registered migration agent quickly matters — the TPS handles your course and tuition; your visa is a separate, parallel thing to sort out at the same time, not something the TPS process automatically fixes for you.

If you're worried about your current provider

There's no way to predict a closure with certainty from the outside, but general due-diligence signals worth knowing about before you enrol or if you're already concerned include checking a provider's registration status on the Department of Education's PRISMS/CRICOS-linked public information and being cautious of a provider that's unusually evasive about basic operational questions (staff turnover, campus access, fee transparency).

If your provider does close, act promptly once the TPS confirms your options — don't assume the situation will resolve itself, and don't sign anything (a new enrolment agreement, a fee arrangement) with an alternative provider before understanding what the TPS placement or refund process actually offers you first.

What is the Tuition Protection Service?

A government framework under the ESOS Act that protects international students if their Australian education provider closes or defaults. Every registered provider must be covered — it applies automatically, and gives affected students the option of placement in an equivalent course elsewhere or a refund of unspent tuition fees.

Do I need to sign up for the Tuition Protection Service?

No. It isn't something you opt into — every registered provider is legally required to be covered, and the protection activates automatically for affected students if a provider defaults.

What happens to my visa if my education provider closes?

The TPS addresses your course and tuition, not your visa directly. A provider closure affects your Confirmation of Enrolment, which can have implications for your student visa conditions — worth raising with a MARA-registered migration agent promptly alongside working through the TPS process.

Does the TPS cover my living costs or relocation if my provider closes?

No — the TPS specifically covers the tuition fee component tied to course delivery (placement or refund), not general costs like relocation or lost income that a closure might cause.