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CLAUSE 7: Tenure of Grants

7.1   A grant awarded under this Scheme shall be provisional for the 2009/10 academic year and shall not be continued in any subsequent academic year, unless the Local Authority is satisfied that the provisions of this Scheme continue to be complied with fully.

7.2   A grant is tenable for the normal duration of the approved course and is renewable annually subject to satisfactory attainment and the approval of the Local Authority, subject to the terms of Clause 7.6.   Grants may not be paid in respect of a repeat year of study on the same course. A Local Authority shall have discretion to waive this provision in exceptional circumstances, such as certified serious illness. 

7.3   Where grant-holders, as part of their approved course, are required to attend foreign university courses for a period of up to one year, a maintenance grant may continue to be paid where the period abroad does not affect the normal duration of the approved course.

7.4  Grants awarded under this Scheme shall be tenable only in respect of attendance at approved courses.

7.5  A grant under this Scheme shall not be tenable in respect of a course, or part of a course, to which the Third Level Maintenance Grants Scheme for Trainees, 2009 applies.

7.6  Apart from the special provisions for second chance students in Clause 3.3, candidates who have previously pursued an undergraduate course approved for the purposes of the Higher Education Grants Scheme, the Vocational Education Committees’ Scholarship Scheme or the Third Level Maintenance Grants Scheme for Trainees (formerly ESF Scheme) shall not receive a grant under this Scheme until they have completed an equivalent period of study at undergraduate level, irrespective of whether or not a grant was paid previously.  A Local Authority shall have discretion to waive this provision in exceptional circumstances, such as certified serious illness.  Grants shall not be paid to candidates who already hold a Level 8 (Honours Bachelor Degree qualification or equivalent qualification) and are pursuing a second such qualification. However, notwithstanding this condition the following candidates may be deemed eligible for grant aid:

1. Candidates who already hold a Level 6 qualification (Higher Certificate or National Certificate) or Level 7 (Ordinary Bachelor Degree or National Diploma) and are progressing to a Level 8 (Honours Bachelor Degree) course, without necessarily having received an exemption from the normal duration of the course;
2. Candidates who have satisfactorily completed two years of a Level 7 (Ordinary Bachelor Degree or National Diploma) course, and gain admission through exemption, to year two of a Level 8 (Honours Bachelor Degree) course. 

7.7  Candidates who have previously pursued a postgraduate course approved for the purposes of the Higher Education Grants Scheme or the Vocational Education Committees’ Scholarship Scheme shall not receive a grant under this Scheme until they have completed an equivalent period of study at postgraduate level irrespective of whether or not a grant was paid previously.  A Local Authority shall have discretion to waive this provision in exceptional circumstances, such as certified serious illness. Grants shall not be paid to candidates who already hold a postgraduate qualification and are pursuing a second postgraduate qualification.  However, notwithstanding this condition candidates who:

1. on completion of a one year post-graduate course which has not led to the conferral of a qualification, gain admittance to the second year of a post-graduate course;
     OR
2. already hold a postgraduate qualification and are progressing to a further postgraduate course which represents progression may be deemed eligible for grant aid.

  For the purposes of this clause postgraduate qualifications at Level 8 are deemed to be progression.

Grant aid for postgraduate students shall be limited to a maximum of four years.

7.8  A grant-holder who, during the course of his/her studies, wishes to change course or faculty or defer his/her grant must obtain the prior approval of the Local Authority.