Frequently Asked Questions


For specific details regarding courses, please refer to the relevant Fact Sheets in the Courses section of the website. These FAQ's offer more general information about The National Finance Institute.

Our Terms and Conditions section also contains information which you may find helpful, particularly regarding the Certificate IV course.

We close for two weeks each Christmas and New Year period; exact dates are placed on our website, on the Contact Us page.  Minimal marking or issuing of certificates occurs during this period but students' access to online courses is maintained.  If you submit anything during this time it will be reviewed when we reopen in January. If you require an extension to complete your course, please use our extension options at this link.  You can use this same link if you need to re-enrol in your course, if it has been some time since you were studying.

If you are still within your completion period, contact us and we can reset your login details.  If you are now outside your completion period, you have 2 options: 1) click Extensions to put a 1, 3, 6 month or longer extension in place, or: 2) You may need to contact NFI as some courses do not have extensions available eg. FNS40820, and you may need to be transitioned into the updated version of your course. 

To access the broking courses on our online platform, the website address is: http://financeinstitute.ecampusv2.com.au/ .  Aussie and Lendi students should swap the 2 for a 3. If you need to delete your Internet Explorer cache to refresh this site for some reason, you can follow the instructions on this page: http://www.refreshyourcache.com/en/internet-explorer-8/

Yes, all our courses are offered by distance education mode. 

Yes, all our courses can be studied by online e-learning so you do not need to be based in Australia.  Once you finish your qualification we would send your certificate to you by airmail and by email.  Some of our students studying to be a Loan Processor are based overseas but service Australian customers or businesses.

Online learning provides for access to the course through a dedicated website, so all course content is accessible your computer 24/7.  Our FNS40821 and FNS50322 online content allows for printing if desired but our other courses do not allow for printing of course content.  If you wish to study from a hard copy (printed version) of the course then this is what we refer to as distance learning.  Distance learning students also get online access but online elearning trainees do not receive any printed material.  There are additional fees for the printed course manuals.

Click here for information on the Unique Student Identifier (USI).  It is a Government requirement for all students who are studying, with any institution in Australia, as from 2015, to register for a USI.  A USI can be created in just 5 minutes at this link www.usi.gov.au

Please refer to our Terms and Conditions section. If you provide at least a week's notice of wanting to change your original workshop booking dates, there is no additional cost.

If you let us know that you wish to be considered for graduate placement, you must provide us with a complete resume after you have graduated. With your approval, NFI will then scan your resume and email it to select industry partners for consideration in employment.

Yes, we offer tailored solutions to corporate clients. NFI can blend a course and contents to develop a training solution suited to individual or group needs. Click here for more details.

There are no exam timetabless with our courses.  Instead we have online questions, exercises, case study assignments and projects.  There is no requirement to attend a specific scheduled assessment day, you complete assessments in your own time at your own location.

Assessments in the Certificate IV and the Diploma of mortgage broking courses are a mixture of styles.  As well as multiple choice self-marking questions completed online, there are written exercises and assignments. Some of the exercises and assignments require a written response, with completion of forms, templates or short answer questions.  And there are some oral assessment requirements where your task is to record yourself undertaking specific tasks, such as explaining loan product options to a fictitious client, using the case studies we provide.  

Yes, in most cases undertaking work experience demonstrates initiative and enthusiasm to potential employers, therefore increasing your likelihood of gaining employment.

Yes, you will find Course Fact Sheets in each course page of this website or on our Forms page.

Advertised jobs are only the tip of the 'employment iceberg'. To locate available jobs you should try to start networking within the Mortgage Industry. Attend industry functions, conferences and awards nights - get known! Perhaps start locating jobs in industry magazines, employment websites and employment agencies that specialise in the Mortgage Industry. A popular site for finding available positions is Seek.  We also have some leads available on this link from existing companies seeking those with passion to join the industry.

Yes, certainly! Please call Client Services on 1300 765 400 - we'd be delighted to hear from you.

You can find a schedule of proposed workshop dates by clicking here. We ask that you enrol in a workshop as far in advance as possible of your chosen course date. Distance education and online courses can commence at any time you desire.

Click on the green Enrol Here button on any page, choose your preferred course/study mode, answer the enrolment questions and we will automatically receive notification of your enrolment.  One of our team will then email you with all relevant details.  If you are unable to enrol through our website for some reason, a pdf version of our Course Enrolment Forms can be sent via mail or email to NFI.  Full details are provided at the bottom of the pdf enrolment form.   The form can be found towards the bottom of our Forms page.

You will be notified of your grades through your study portal, usually within 3 weeks after you have submitted all your assessments. If a submission does not pass, we will email you the assessor's feedback to assist with a resubmission of the assessment task.  If everything passes your certificate will be issued within 3 days and we will email a scan of your qualification prior to mailing it.

NFI's trainers are available for assistance by phone or email to help you if you encounter difficulty in completing your assignments. If you do not reach the required competency level on your first attempt, you can re-submit your assessment at no extra cost. We want to help you achieve success whenever possible.

You will receive your Certificate once your assessments have been submitted and you have achieved Competency as determined by an assessor. We will forward a scan by email and then the original by regular post, within 1 week of your passing all of your assessments. 

RPL stands for Recognition of Prior Learning and can involve a mixture of prior learning, work experience, Credit Transfer for units already completed by study, either with us or with a different institution.  For full details on RPL, please click here.

The MCQC course is the name we previously used for our Certificate IV in Financial Services (Finance/Mortgage Broking). This course is now referred to as the FNS40821 Certificate IV in Finance and Mortgage Broking and is a nationally recognised qualification under our Registered Training Organisation (RTO) national provider number 31203. Successful completion of this course along with successful completion of the MFAA Initial Compliance Pack (incorporating Anti Money Laundering), will fulfil the education requirements for Accredited Mortgage Consultant status.  The FNS40821 replaced the FNS40820 but they are equally recognised.

We are happy to discuss this with you over the phone.  You can phone us on 1300 765 400 Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.  We also provide a pdf called How To Become a Mortgage Broker on our website

Many mortgage broking groups (for example, aggregators and franchisors) arrange lender accreditations for their brokers. The provision of accreditation with lending institutions is at their discretion. For links to various aggregators, please see our Resources page.

All course fees are in Australian dollars. Payment options are provided when you enrol through our website at the Enrol Here link. You can use any debit or credit card through our secure eWay connection, or PayPal, or you can make a bank transfer (either through internet banking or by making a deposit at a St George branch).  Bank details are provided after you enrol if you choose the bank transfer option.  You can also send a cheque in the mail and once it has cleared you will be able to start your course.  If required, we can create an invoice for payment by a chosen employment consultant, employer or other third party.  For all course payments we will issue the receipt by email.

Additional information can be found in the Trainee Handbook which, along with many forms, can be found on our Forms page.

In the first instance, please call us on 1300 765 400 as we will certainly do our utmost to try to assist with your concern.  You can also refer to the Dispute Resolution or Academic Appeals information or the Trainee Handbook, available on our website.