If you live in Victoria and are enrolling in an accredited secondary or specialist teaching degree, you may be eligible for the STS. STS can pay you while you study and help with your study and living costs. STS is for students who live in Victoria or a designated border community. You are eligible if you:
- Enrol and start an eligible secondary school teaching degree in 2024 or 2025, or
- Enrol and start a primary-specialist teaching degree in 2025.
Students who stopped their eligible teaching study before 2022, have not finished their degree, and did not enrol in 2022 or 2023, can also be eligible when returning to their studies.
Additional payments are available for STS recipients who work as teachers in Victorian government secondary or specialist schools. These payments apply after you have completed your degree requirements.
Further details on STS scholarships available for students enrolling in 2024 and 2025
STS consists of two phases: a study phase and an employment phase.
During the study phase:
- Eligible undergraduate students will receive approximately $9,600 across their 4-year full-time equivalent (FTE) teaching degree.
- Eligible postgraduate students will receive approximately $5,700 across their 2-year FTE teaching degree.
Note:
- The total STS payments you could receive, from both study and work periods, are based on the standard student contribution for a Commonwealth Supported Place (CSP) in an undergraduate or postgraduate secondary teaching degree. You can still be eligible for STS even if you have not been granted a CSP.
Eligibility criteria
To be eligible, applicants must:
- Be a domestic student living in Victoria or a designated border community during their ITE degree.
- Be enrolled in a secondary or dual secondary–specialist teaching degree accredited by the VIT (or an equivalent authority recognised by the VIT).
- Have a first census date between 1 January 2024 and 31 December 2025.
- Undertake at least 50% of a full-time study load (EFTSL) at the time of assessment.
For full details, please refer to the STS guidelines.
- Note: Victorian residents who study a secondary or primary-secondary teaching degree at a non-Victorian provider may still be able to apply for STS. If all other eligibility requirements are met, applications will be assessed by the Department of Education on a case-by-case basis.
Next steps
Before applying please read the STS Program (Study Phase) Guidelines:
More information
- If you receive a scholarship, you are responsible for meeting all course requirements.
- You do not have to use the scholarship payments to pay for your study costs. Because payments are made over time, you are responsible for paying any up-front fees by the due date set by your education provider. This includes arranging a HECS-HELP or FEE-HELP loan, if needed, and covering any other study costs.
- If you do not complete your full ITE program, you will not receive further payments. This includes withdrawing after the census date or not completing your course requirements.
- If you do not return to study the following semester or year, you will not be eligible for any further funding.
- The Department of Education is not required to withhold tax (PAYG) from scholarships paid. You should be aware:
- you may be liable to pay tax on your scholarship. For more information, see the calculator on the Australian Taxation Office website.
- you may be entitled to claim a tax deduction for self-education expenses. For more information, see the Australian Taxation Office website.
- The Department of Education strongly recommends that recipients seek independent tax advice for their scholarship payment.
Contact us
If you require any additional information or have queries on:
- The application process and platform, please contact the STS Grants team at sts@grants.vic.gov.au
- Eligibility criteria and the policy-related matters of the scholarships, please contact the School Teaching Scholarships team at school.teaching.scholarships@education.vic.gov.au
Updated