Aviation courses – landing students in serious debt

What happened?

On 13 December 2024, as the Vocational Education and Training (VET) Student Loans Ombudsman (VSLO), the Office published an issues paper on issues arising in complaints we received from students who had incurred significant VET loan debts for aviation courses they did not complete.

Complaints to the Office highlighted concerns including:

• unexpected out-of-pocket costs for additional flight hours if competency was not achieved in the diploma’s included flight hours
• insufficient availability of aircraft or instructors to support progress at an appropriate pace
• providers progressing students through census dates even though they were not achieving the required theory or practical milestones
• providers charging and collecting VET Student Loans funds for students who paused study to resolve disputes.

What did we do?

We made 4 recommendations aimed at:

1. increasing transparency about potential costs and implications of VET Student Loans
2. enhancing eligibility screening prior to students entering a course of study
3. slowing down debt accrual to minimise the risk of debts where students are not able to complete their course of study
4. improving progress monitoring and interventions.

We sent the paper to relevant providers, inviting them to consider the issues and recommendations.

Outcome

Overall, course providers responded positively, with many outlining their intention to implement the recommendations from the next course intake in July 2025, and others advising their arrangements already reflected our recommended practices.

We are continuing to work closely with stakeholders on the issues raised.