Sligo County Council administers a scheme of Higher Education Grants in accordance with the current Department of Education and Science Higher Education Grant Scheme.
The following financial supports are available under the scheme:
You must have been legally resident in Ireland for three of the last five years. You should only apply to Sligo County Council if your home address is in County Sligo.
You must fulfill residency, age, academic attainment, means and nationality conditions to be deemed eligible for a grant.
Grants are not usually payable in the following circumstances:
Please note that, in certain circumstances, such as medical grounds or following a break in studies of at least 5 years (second chance) grants may be payable.
Grants are not available in the following circumstances:
This depends on where you are thinking of going and whether you are an undergraduate or postgraduate student. If you are attending an undergraduate course at a publicly funded college in an EU country, you may be eligible for a maintenance grant only. Maintenance and fee grants are available for postgraduate students in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland only.
Yes. From September 2010 onwards, students entering or progressing to a new course who are in receipt of the BTEA will no longer be eligible for a maintenance grant. Such students, can, however apply under the relevant maintenance grant scheme to have the student services charge and any tuition fees payable for the course paid on their behalf.
No, but once you become a recipient of the BTEA you will become ineligible for any further maintenance grant support (with the exception of the Student Services Charge. See previous question).
A Mature Candidate is a candidate who is at least 23 years of age on the 1st January of the year of entry or re-entry to an approved course. ‘Re-entry’ means entering as a mature candidate following a break in studies of at least three years.
A Dependent Mature Candidate who was living with his/her parents from the 1st of October 2010 is not considered to be independent and will be assessed on both parents’ and candidate’s income.
An Independent Mature Candidate is a mature candidate who was not living with his/her parents from 1 October of the year before their entry or re-entry to an approved course. You will be required to submit proof of independent residence with your application. This category of student is assessed on their own income and spouse’s income (if applicable).
No. You must apply as an Other than a Mature Candidate and provide details of your own and your parents’ income.
No. Students proceeding directly from undergraduate to postgraduate must continue to be assessed under the category of candidate that applied to them at the first year of entry to their undergraduate course.
Yes. You should submit your grant application as soon as possible. If you subsequently accept a course offer below Level 8, please let us know and we will forward your application directly to Sligo V.E.C. for processing.
Yes. Application packs will be sent out to applicants as soon as possible. Please contact the Higher Education Grants Section at Sligo County Council at mboylan@sligococo.ie to have your name and address included on our mailing list.
Alternatively you can download an Application Form and Explanatory Notes from the Downloads section.
The application form and explanatory notes should be read carefully before completing the form.
Submitting an incomplete application will result in a delay in processing your application.
You must submit evidence of your/your parents income from all sources for the year ended 31st December 2010 together with evidence of your age, academic attainment and residency. You can use this Documentation Checklist to ensure that your application is as complete as possible.
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SECTION OF FORM |
ORIGINAL DOCUMENTATION REQUIRED. |
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Original Birth Certificates for all dependent children may be requested |
| Income from employment or non-social welfare pension including lump sums on retirement and redundancy where applicable | P21 statement of total income from Revenue and P60; or P45 if applicable; in Retirement cases a letter from employer in relation to lump sum received and number of years employed or a letter in Redundancy cases from your former employer stating whether or not redundancy was received, the amount received and the number of years employed. Letter/statement from your pension scheme administrator showing current pension |
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Income from all social welfare/ Health Service Executive (HSE) payments |
A written statement from the Department of Social Protection, the HSE or Local Authority, which includes name of recipient, name of scheme, amount received, date the payment started, and if applicable date the payment ceased. Please note that this statement should be for non-taxation HEG grant purposes. The Department of Social Protection may issue statements for taxation purposes. These are not suitable for HEG purposes |
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Income from self-employment, including farming |
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| Rent and other income from land and property |
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| Deposit Accounts/investments including Foreign investments | Certificates of interest/dividends/statement from the relevant financial institution for the year ended 31st December 2009 |
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Income from maintenance, separation/divorce agreements |
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Disposal of assets |
Computation of capital gain for previous tax year as supplied or to be supplied to Inspector of Taxes |
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Gifts/Inheritances etc. |
Provide relevant documentation including any returns/correspondence with Revenue |
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Income from other sources not shown elsewhere |
If any other source of income was received during the year, details and documentary evidence must be provided. |
It is vitally important that the application form be fully completed, signed and dated by both you and your parents where applicable. Sections of the form that are not relevant to your particular situation should contain N/A (not applicable) clearly across each Section.
No. We routinely assess applications for the Special Rate of Maintenance Grant.
This depends on what level of course you hope to do. Your first choice C.A.O. course is a good guideline to use.
Sligo County Council administers the scheme for students undertaking Honours Degree, Higher or Post Graduates Diploma, Masters Degrees and Doctoral Degree courses (Levels 8 to 10).
Students undertaking PLC, Certificate, Diploma or Ordinary Degree courses (Levels 5 – 7) should make their grant application to Sligo V.E.C.
If you are unsure what level your course is, please consult the National Framework of Qualifications
The amount of grant awarded, if any, depends on your/your parents income or means. Income limits and maximum grants for fees and maintenance are set down annually by the Department of Education and Science.
The 2011/2012 Higher Education Grant Scheme will be assessed on income for the year ended 31st December 20010.
However, if you or your family have had a change of circumstances since the beginning of 2010 that is likely to be permanent, then your eligibility for the grant may be assessed to reflect those permanent changed circumstances. For example, if your parents experience a permanent change in income level (through reduction in working hours, unemployment, etc.) then you can apply to Sligo County Council to have your eligibility for a grant re-assessed on the basis of the new income level.
Yes. Income limits are increased where there are two or more students from one family at third level colleges. It is very important that you list all family members detail on the application form. If your application is successful, we may require written confirmation of registration from your brother/sisters college.
You will be notified, in writing, of the outcome of your application. This notification will be sent to your current home address. It is important that you read this notification carefully.
Successful applications are usually subject to conditions which must to be fulfilled before any payment can issue.
The reason(s) for any unsuccessful application will be detailed in the decision notification.
Maintenance grants are paid in three instalments, usually in October, January and after Easter. Cheques are sent to the Finance Office in your college and you are required to sign a confirmation sheet upon receipt of your payment.
Some colleges lodge cheques directly to students’ bank accounts. Other colleges may give the cheques directly to students. You should check individual arrangements with your own college.
Your grant award notification will specify the fees or student services charge award you will receive. You must bring this notification to the Fees Office in your college and ask them to invoice Sligo County Council for your fee or student services charge award. We will pay the college directly when we get the invoice. If you are awarded a fee grant or student services charge grant and have already paid fees or a student services charge, your college will refund this payment directly to you.
Sligo County Council does not make fee or student service charge refund payments directly to students.
A percentage of successful applications are reviewed annually.
Yes. You should submit a request for a review of the application to Sligo County Council. If you are not satisfied with the outcome of this review, you may then submit an appeal to the Department of Education and Science.
Yes. Please let us know so that we may cancel your grant application.
Please contact the Higher Education Grants Section in Sligo County Council. Our offices are open from 9.00am to 5.00pm Monday to Friday (with the exception of public holidays).
Address: Higher Education Grants Section, Sligo County Council, County Hall, Riverside, Co Sligo
Email: mboylan@sligococo.ie
Telephone: 071 911 1011
If you, your parent(s), legal guardian, spouse or partner, as applicable, knowingly make a false statement or knowingly withhold information, you will lose your grant and have to repay any portion of a grant that you have already received. You, your parent(s), legal guardian, spouse or partner, as applicable, may also be prosecuted leading to a fine, a prison term or both.