A grant estimate is only useful if the numbers behind it are the official ones. This page explains where ours come from, how we keep them current, and what we do when something is wrong.
Sources, in order of authority
- The law. The Student Grant Scheme 2026 (S.I. No. 70 of 2026) and the Student Support Regulations 2026 (S.I. No. 71 of 2026) on irishstatutebook.ie. When a guide says what counts as income or which courses are approved, this is the text it rests on.
- SUSI. The income threshold and award rate tables, payment dates, key dates and guidance pages on susi.ie. Every number in the calculator is copied from these tables.
- Citizens Information and gov.ie, used to cross-check SUSI and for announcements SUSI has not published yet, such as Budget measures.
Each guide links the exact pages it used and says when they were checked. We do not estimate or forecast figures; when something is announced but not published (the Budget 2027 per-band amounts, for example), the page says so and keeps the current official figure.
How we keep it current
- Every Monday the SUSI tables and key dates are compared with the figures on this site. Any difference is flagged to us the same day.
- Every rate, threshold and date used by the calculator has a test that fails if it stops matching the published table, so a typo cannot reach the site.
- The site is rebuilt every Friday so that “next payment” dates never go stale.
- Around the Budget in October and when SUSI opens applications in spring, we check the relevant pages by hand.
How the calculator works
It applies SUSI’s published tables in SUSI’s order: the special rate first, then Bands 1 to 4, then the fee-only tiers, using the column for your number of dependent children and adding the published increment for each other family member in college. It does not ask about nationality, residence, progression or whether your course is approved, so it cannot tell you whether you are eligible, only what the tables give a household like yours. SUSI makes the decision.
Corrections
Found something wrong or out of date? Email hello@studentgrantcalculator.ie with the page and, if you have it, the source. We check it against the official text and, if you are right, fix it, usually within a day or two, and record it below.
Independence
StudentGrantCalculator.ie is run by Avlas Digital, an Irish business, and is not connected to SUSI, the Department of Further and Higher Education or any college. It is free to use and paid for by advertising. Advertisers have no say in what we write.
Changes to this site
- 25 October 2026. Five new guides: documents checklist, renewals, change of circumstances, the 30km rule with campus Eircodes, and SUSI for study abroad. Payment dates page now shows what each instalment is worth for your band. View
- 22 October 2026. Final closing date for 2026/27 confirmed: Thursday 5 November 2026. Updated on the deadline, late application, how to apply and status pages. View
- 6 October 2026. Budget 2027: permanent €150 cut to the student contribution and maintenance rates up 4.5% from January 2027. The calculator keeps the 2026/27 tables until SUSI publishes the new amounts. View
- 5 October 2026. New guide to the grants that are not SUSI (Student Assistance Fund, 1916 Bursary, Fund for Students with Disabilities) and eight worked household examples. View
- 22 September 2026. All 18 payment dates re-checked against susi.ie (no changes). New guides: special rate, appeals and reviews, student contribution fee. View
- 5 September 2026. Guides added for income thresholds, the deadline, late applications, postgraduate grants and application statuses. View
- 22 August 2026. Site launched with the official 2026/27 undergraduate, postgraduate and PLC tables and the payment calendar.