Sarah Sladek was set to graduate from the Diploma of Early Education and Care with six others in mid-June, but the excitement evaporated when she was told she would not receive any official documents until an outstanding $1200 bill had been paid.

The 22-year-old said she and her peers were told by TAFE administration staff just two weeks out from the end of her course it was ‘‘no payment, no certificate’’.

Miss Sladek said she had inquired about her fees several times during the year, due to concerns about the introduction of the new Smart and Skilled fee structure, but had been told she would receive a letter.

The structure, which came into effect on January 1, meant course costs became based on the qualification, rather than an annual fee, as previously applied.

Last week the office staff said we got a letter about it, but we were trying to tell them we didn’t ... no notifications at all, and we were thinking seven letters could not end up at a wrong address,’’ Miss Sladek said.

According to a TAFE Illawarra spokeswoman, ‘‘all students have been supported to finalise their fees and complete the enrolment process’’ since the changes came into effect.

The TAFE NSW website states ‘‘letters, emails and text messages were sent to all continuing students as part of new fee arrangements that start this year’’.

But Miss Sladek said this had not occurred.

‘‘We’ve had a lot of gripes with TAFE in the fact that we weren’t even enrolled in this year until recently because their computer systems were down, so we think it could have happened to a lot of people,’’ she said.

Miss Sladek claimed her course group was also told they would not be eligible for VET Fee Help to assist in paying the outstanding money because they had enrolled ‘‘before Smart and Skilled took over’’, starting the course in 2014.

Miss Sladek said she approached the Mercury because the only avenue of assistance TAFE administration had given them were complaint forms, even though they had asked to speak to someone higher within the organisation.

‘‘I was so lucky to have some money that I had saved for a bond on a new apartment (which will now have to wait). But for my friends, they will be stuck without proof of their qualification to get the job they need ... and walk away in two weeks, after a year and a half of dedication and hard work, with nothing to show for it,’’ she said.

The TAFE Illawarra spokeswoman was unable to  comment on specific cases late on Tuesday, but said ‘‘if a student required specifics on fee information, it would have been sought through the teachers of the sections they would have been enrolling in.’’

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