You can make an application for the further education Grants Scheme if you’re a student undertaking an authorised full time undergraduate course of more than two years in length or a fulltime postgraduate course. You have to meet a bunch of standards to be accepted for the grant including educational achievement and a means test.

For authorised undergraduate courses in Eire and other ECU member states upkeep grants are available but there aren’t any charge grants for courses in other EU member states. For authorized postgraduate courses in Eire and Northerly Eire grants are available for upkeep and costs.

Comprehensive details of the further education Grants Scheme are available on the site of the Dept of Education and Abilities.

There’s detailed info on the range of grants and funds for scholars in further and further education on the internet site studentfinance.ie.

Budget 2011 introduces a couple of changes to student support schemes:

Student grants are reduced by 4%. It is anticipated this reduction will have an application to all existing and new grant-holders from Jan 2011.

A new suitability class is added to the family revenue boundaries for freedom from half of the new Student Contribution.

The qualifying space between home and university for the non-adjacent rate of grant is increased from 24km to 45km

Mature scholars will not be instantly suitable for the non-adjacent rate of grant.

The scholar Support Bill 2008 ( pdf ) is presently going through the Oireachtas. It suggests a considerable number of changes including:

A new single unified grant scheme to be administered by the vocational education committees ( VECs )

New independent appeals board to get introduced

Residence obligation: one of the Bill’s changes is a new duty for the grant candidate to be resident in the State for three of the prior five years. Though the Bill hasn’t yet passed, this new residence need was brought into effect for grant applications from 2010 / 2011.