First, check the decision against the table
Most disputes are about the band, not about eligibility. Before you write anything, put the household’s 2025 reckonable income, number of dependent children, other family members in college and your distance from college into the student grant calculator and compare its band with the one in your award letter. If they match, SUSI has probably applied the table correctly and your appeal needs to be about the income figure itself or a change in circumstances. If they differ, you have a specific error to point to.
Review or appeal?
SUSI offers both, with the same list of grounds. The practical differences:
| Review | Appeal | |
|---|---|---|
| Time limit | None published by SUSI | Within 30 days of the original decision |
| Who decides | SUSI | SUSI’s appeals officer |
| Next step if refused | Appeal (if still inside 30 days) | Student Grants Appeals Board, within 30 days of the letter |
| Change in circumstances | Always requested as a review | Also a listed appeal ground |
You need a final decision before either. A provisional assessment or a checklist letter asking for documents is not a decision. And once a review or appeal is in, wait for the outcome before lodging another request.
The grounds SUSI accepts
SUSI lists these grounds for both a review and an appeal. Pick the one that matches; a request that does not fit a ground is unlikely to change anything.
- Adjacent or non-adjacent rate (the 30km distance decision)
- Reassessment of total reckonable household income, if you believe it was assessed incorrectly
- Special rate of grant
- Change in circumstances: loss of employment or a permanent reduction in salary
- Change in circumstances: retirement
- Change in circumstances: cessation of business, if self-employed
- Change in circumstances: nationality or immigration status
- Change in circumstances: number of dependent children in the household
- Change in circumstances: a sibling attending further or higher education
- Change in circumstances: change of course
- Change in circumstances: change in your ordinary permanent residence
How to appeal, step by step
- Log in to your SUSI student portal.
- Select My Requests on the home page, then Appeal your Grant Decision (or Review your Grant Decision).
- Select the academic year.
- Select the ground and give a full description of why the decision is wrong. Be concrete: the figure SUSI used, the figure you say is right, and why.
- Upload supporting documents, up to three files. Payslips or a Revenue Statement of Liability for an income dispute; a Department of Social Protection letter for the special rate; proof of address or a distance printout for adjacency; a college registration letter for a sibling in education.
- Press Submit. You get a confirmation message, and the appeals officer notifies you in writing within 30 days of the determination.
If the appeal raises your award, instalments already due are paid as back pay in your next payment, on the normal payment schedule.
Change in circumstances
SUSI assesses 2026/27 on income from 1 January to 31 December 2025. If something has changed since 1 January 2026, you can ask to be assessed on the current year instead. Request a review and give “Change in Circumstances” as the ground.
Income-related changes
Loss of employment, a permanent reduction in salary, retirement, or cessation of trading for someone self-employed. The fall in income must be likely to continue for the duration of the course. SUSI does not treat a drop in self-employment, farming or rental income as a change in circumstances, because it regards that income as variable by nature. When you apply, every party to the application is reassessed on 2026 income, and SUSI may ask for evidence of it. A change during the academic year takes effect from the month it happened.
Non-income changes
- A sibling or parent now attending further or higher education full-time
- More dependent children in the household
- A change in your nationality or immigration status
- A change in your ordinary permanent residence (this affects the adjacent or non-adjacent rate only)
- A change of course or institution
SUSI asks for documentary evidence of each of these before reassessing.
Second stage: the Student Grants Appeals Board
If the appeals officer’s written decision goes against you, you can appeal to the independent Student Grants Appeals Board. You must do this within 30 days of the date on the appeals officer’s letter, and only after you have that letter; the letter explains how to submit. The Board has 60 days to make its determination and writes to you with the result. Its decision can be taken to the High Court on a specified point of law only, under the Student Support Act 2011.
Board contact: phone 057 932 5317, email studentgrantappeals@dfheris.gov.ie, website studentgrantappeals.ie.
Frequently asked questions
How long do I have to appeal a SUSI decision?
30 days from the date of your original grant decision. The appeal goes in through My Requests in your SUSI student portal. If the appeals officer turns you down, you have a further 30 days from the date of that letter to appeal to the Student Grants Appeals Board.
What is the difference between a SUSI review and a SUSI appeal?
Both use the same list of grounds and the same portal steps. A review asks SUSI to look at your application again; a change in circumstances is always made as a review. An appeal goes to SUSI’s appeals officer, must be lodged within 30 days of the decision, and is the route that leads on to the independent Student Grants Appeals Board if you are still unhappy.
Can I appeal because my parents’ income has dropped?
Yes, as a change in circumstances, if the drop happened on or after 1 January 2026 and is likely to last for the duration of the course. Loss of employment, a permanent salary cut, retirement or closing a business count. A fall in self-employment, farming or rental income does not, because SUSI treats that income as variable by nature. SUSI reassesses the whole household on 2026 income and may ask for evidence of it.
How long does a SUSI appeal take?
SUSI says the appeals officer will notify you in writing within 30 days of determining the appeal. The Student Grants Appeals Board has 60 days to make its determination. If you already have a review or appeal in progress, wait for the outcome before submitting another request.
Can I appeal to the Student Grants Appeals Board straight away?
No. The Board only takes appeals after you have received the SUSI appeals officer’s written decision. That letter tells you how to submit to the Board. The Board’s decision can be appealed to the High Court on a point of law only, under the Student Support Act 2011.
Sources: SUSI’s pages on appealing, reviewing and change in circumstances, plus the Citizens Information Student Grant Scheme page for the 30-day limit at the Appeals Board. All read on 22 September 2026.