The four schemes side by side
| Scheme | Who it is for | What you get | Where to apply |
|---|---|---|---|
| Student Assistance Fund (SAF) | Any full- or part-time student on an NFQ level 6 to 10 course in a participating college who is in financial difficulty | Cash help with rent, bills, food, books, travel, childcare, medical costs. Amount set by the college | Access or student services office in your college |
| 1916 Bursary | First-time undergraduate entrants under the SUSI special rate income limit who are in a priority group | Tier 1: €5,000 a year. Tier 2: €2,000 a year. Paid for the normal length of the course | Online at 1916bursary.ie, closes Friday 9 October 2026 at 5pm |
| Fund for Students with Disabilities (FSD) | Students with a verified disability in one of 12 categories, full- or part-time, PLC to PhD | Supports bought by the college: assistive technology, notetakers, ISL interpreters, learning support, transport | Disability or access office; the college applies, not you |
| Student Accommodation Assistance | Traveller and Roma students, and care-experienced students who do not get an aftercare allowance | Help with rent in any accommodation type, from campus halls to digs | Access office in a participating college |
All four are run by the Higher Education Authority or the college itself, not by SUSI. None of them needs a SUSI award, and none of them is blocked by one. The one exclusivity rule is on the 1916 Bursary side: a Tier 1 or Tier 2 holder cannot take any other bursary, scholarship or award, but can hold SUSI, a welfare payment, the SAF and the FSD at the same time.
Student Assistance Fund
The SAF is the scheme most students in trouble should know about and most do not. It exists to cover costs that stop you staying in college: rent arrears, a heating bill, a bus pass, a creche invoice, a GP visit, course books. It covers temporary emergencies and ongoing shortfalls. It is designed, in the HEA’s words, as a source of support in addition to a SUSI grant.
Who can apply
- Full-time or part-time students on a course leading to a higher education award at NFQ level 6, 7, 8, 9 or 10.
- In a participating college: every university and technological university, IADT, Dundalk IT, Marino, Mary Immaculate, NCAD, NCI, St Patrick’s Maynooth and RCSI.
- Not in a PLC or further education college. The SAF is a higher education scheme.
- Part-time students who are lone parents or in another National Access Plan target group are specifically encouraged to apply; extra money is ring-fenced for them.
What it does not cover
Tuition fees, the student contribution, student loan repayments and anything the college itself charges you. For the contribution, SUSI is the route; see the student contribution page.
How to apply
- Go to the access office or student services in your college as soon as the problem appears. Some colleges have a closing date and most close the fund when it is spent.
- Bring what they ask for. Typically proof of your own or your parents’ income and receipts for the cost you need help with (rent, bills, childcare).
- A small committee, usually the access officer and the student welfare officer, decides. It is confidential and the decision does not appear on your academic record.
There is no published rate. The college decides the amount case by case from the money it has been allocated for the year. A SUSI refusal does not disqualify you, and a SUSI award does not either.
1916 Bursary
The 1916 Bursary is the biggest cash award available to an Irish undergraduate who is not on a sports or academic scholarship. For 2026/27 there are 400 Tier 1 bursaries of €5,000 a year and 200 Tier 2 bursaries of €2,000 a year, paid for the normal duration of the undergraduate course (up to six years part-time). Tier 3, the once-off €1,500 award, is not being offered in 2026/27 because of funding limits. Tier 1 and 2 holders who go straight on to a postgraduate course keep the bursary for that too.
The three tests
You must pass all three.
- Financial. Your reckonable household income for 2025 has to be inside the SUSI special rate limit, €28,600 for a household with fewer than four dependent children, and the household must have been on an eligible long-term Department of Social Protection payment. That is the same test SUSI uses for the special rate of maintenance, using the same income disregards. If SUSI has already awarded you the special rate, you can tick “SUSI data matching” on the form and skip the income paperwork.
- Priority group. At least one of: socio-economically disadvantaged community or background (which includes anyone qualifying for the SUSI special rate or on a DSP payment); a disability; a carer on a long-term means-tested Carer’s Allowance; a lone or teen parent on a long-term means-tested payment; Irish Traveller; Roma; a QQI or further education award holder progressing to higher education; a first-time mature student (23 or over on 1 January) or a second-chance mature student; a migrant, refugee or member of an ethnic minority lawfully present in the State. At least 20% of Tier 1 awards are reserved for lone parents.
- College entry. A new entrant to an undergraduate course in September or October 2026 (or advanced entry directly to year 2), progressing to higher education for the first time, resident in Ireland for three of the last five years, on an approved full-time or part-time course of at least two years leading to a level 6 award or higher. Students already in year 2, 3 or 4 cannot apply, and neither can anyone who already holds a qualification at the same level.
How to apply
One online application through the portal on 1916bursary.ie. Applications for 2026/27 opened on 3 September 2026 and close on Friday 9 October 2026 at 5pm. No late route is published, so treat the date as final. The bursary is run by six regional clusters of colleges (Leinster Pillar 1, MEND, Mid West, South, TU Dublin, West North-West) and each cluster allocates its own quota, so your competition is other new entrants in your region, not the whole country.
Use the two-minute Criteria Quick Check on the site before you start. If you are close on income but have not yet applied to SUSI, apply to SUSI first: an awarded special rate is the easiest evidence you can give the bursary team.
Fund for Students with Disabilities
The FSD works differently from everything else on this page. You never apply and you never receive money. Your college registers you, runs a needs assessment and claims funding from the HEA for the supports you need. The college then provides them. That is also why there is no rate to quote: the cost depends entirely on what the assessment identifies.
Who qualifies
- A verified disability in one of these categories: autism, ADD, ADHD, blind or vision impaired, deaf or hard of hearing, developmental co-ordination disorder (dyspraxia or dysgraphia), mental health condition, neurological condition, physical disability or mobility, significant ongoing illness, specific learning difficulty (dyslexia or dyscalculia), speech and language communication disorder.
- Irish, EU, EEA, UK or Swiss national, or a non-EU national who qualifies for free or reduced fees under the Free Fees Initiative.
- Resident in the State for three of the five years before the course starts. If you miss this at the start you can qualify later in the course; it is reviewed each academic year.
- Full-time or part-time student on an approved course: full-time undergraduate courses of at least two years, part-time undergraduate courses of at least one year, postgraduate courses of at least one year. PLC courses qualify too, run by SOLAS through your ETB rather than the HEA. Springboard+, apprenticeship, tertiary programme, online and repeat students may be covered subject to the guidelines.
- A verified need for specific supports to take part in the course. The disability on its own is not enough.
You do not need to have entered college through DARE. The FSD is open to any registered student who meets the criteria, however they got their place.
What it pays for, and what it does not
Covered: assistive technology and software with training, non-medical helpers such as personal assistants and notetakers, academic and learning support, ISL interpreters and SpeedText for deaf students, transport support. Not covered: diagnosis or assessment of a disability, any medical equipment or care, accommodation, anything the college should be providing anyway, course materials every student has to buy, and support outside the academic year.
How to access it
- Register with the disability or access office as early as you can, ideally before term starts.
- Give them medical verification of the disability, for example a consultant’s report.
- Attend the needs assessment. The college draws up the supports and claims the funding.
The FSD also covers Irish students on approved full-time courses in other EEA countries, the UK and Switzerland, including Northern Ireland. The foreign college contacts the HEA directly.
Student Accommodation Assistance
A newer scheme for three groups: members of the Traveller community, members of the Roma community, and students with experience of the care system between 16 and 18 who do not qualify for an aftercare allowance. It helps with rent in any type of accommodation, from college-owned halls to private rented and digs. Full-time, part-time, postgraduate, mature and repeat students can all apply. You cannot get it if you are an international fee-paying student or already receive another accommodation support such as HAP.
Apply through the access office in a participating college. Application dates for 2026/27 had not been announced when we checked; ask the access office directly.
Two more worth knowing
- Bursary for Care Experienced Young People (Tusla): up to €5,000 towards tuition fees, paid to the college, for anyone aged 18 or over with at least six months of care experience before their 18th birthday who is not getting a SUSI fee grant. The 2026 round ran from 31 August to 2 October 2026; a new round is announced on tusla.ie each year.
- Back to Education Allowance (Department of Social Protection): a weekly payment that replaces your jobseeker, one-parent or disability payment while you study. BTEA recipients can apply to SUSI for fees only; see the special rate page for how the two interact.
How they fit with SUSI
| Situation | What to do |
|---|---|
| SUSI special rate awarded, starting first year | Apply for the 1916 Bursary before Friday 9 October 2026 at 5pm using SUSI data matching. Keep both. |
| SUSI refused, or band too low to live on | Student Assistance Fund through the access office. SUSI status is irrelevant to the SAF. |
| Disability, any SUSI outcome | Register with the disability office for the FSD now. It runs alongside everything else. |
| Traveller, Roma or care-experienced, renting | Student Accommodation Assistance via the access office, plus SUSI and SAF as normal. |
| Missed the SUSI closing date | SAF is the main fallback for living costs this year. Read the late application page. |
Not sure which SUSI band you are in? Run the calculator first. The result tells you whether you meet the special rate test, which is the gateway to the 1916 Bursary.
Frequently asked questions
Can I get the Student Assistance Fund and a SUSI grant at the same time?
Yes. The HEA describes the Student Assistance Fund as support in addition to a SUSI grant. Holding a SUSI grant does not disqualify you, and being refused by SUSI does not disqualify you either. Your college assesses your actual circumstances.
Can I get the 1916 Bursary and SUSI together?
Yes. The 1916 Bursary FAQ states you can hold the bursary with your SUSI grant and any social welfare payment, and you may also apply to the Student Assistance Fund and the Fund for Students with Disabilities. What you cannot do is hold any other bursary, scholarship or award alongside a Tier 1 or Tier 2 bursary.
Does the 1916 Bursary reduce my SUSI grant?
No. It is paid by the college cluster, not by SUSI. In the SUSI income assessment the Student Assistance Fund is disregarded entirely and the first €5,000 a year of scholarships and bursaries is disregarded, so a €5,000 Tier 1 or €2,000 Tier 2 bursary does not push your household income up. Each year the bursary team can also verify your special rate status directly with SUSI through data matching.
How much does the Fund for Students with Disabilities pay a student?
Nothing is paid to the student. FSD money goes to the college, which uses it to buy the supports identified in your needs assessment: assistive technology, a notetaker or personal assistant, ISL interpreting, learning support or transport. You never see a cash amount.
Is there a closing date for the Student Assistance Fund?
It depends on the college. Some run a single autumn deadline, some accept applications all year, and most close the fund when the money is spent. The HEA advice is to apply as soon as you are in difficulty. Ask your access or student services office for this year's date.
I am in a PLC college. Which of these can I get?
The Fund for Students with Disabilities, administered for PLC colleges by SOLAS through your ETB. The Student Assistance Fund is not available in further education or PLC colleges, and the 1916 Bursary is for undergraduate higher education courses. PLC students apply to SUSI for maintenance in the normal way.
Sources: Student Assistance Fund and Fund for Students with Disabilities pages on hea.ie (including the SAF Guidelines for HEIs 2026/27 and the FSD page); 1916 Bursary tiers, priority groups, dates and FAQ from 1916bursary.ie; Student Accommodation Assistance and the Tusla bursary from citizensinformation.ie (page edited 8 September 2026). All checked on 5 October 2026.