Priority date versus final closing date
| Deadline | 2026/27 date | What it decides |
|---|---|---|
| Priority closing date, renewals | Thursday 11 June 2026 | Whether your renewal is assessed in time for the first payment. |
| Priority closing date, new applications | Thursday 9 July 2026 | Whether a new application is assessed in time for the first payment. |
| Final closing date | Not yet announced (usually early November) | Whether you can apply for 2026/27 at all. The 2025/26 scheme closed on Thursday 6 November 2025. |
The priority date is a promise from SUSI: apply by then and it aims to have a decision ready before term starts. Miss it and you are simply further back in the queue. The final closing date is a wall. For 2026/27 SUSI has not yet published it. It normally falls in early November: the 2025/26 scheme closed on Thursday 6 November 2025. Until it is confirmed, work to the end of October. We update this page and the deadline guide the day it is announced; the live date is always on susi.ie.
What actually happens when you apply late
Nothing about your entitlement changes. The same 2025 income, the same thresholds, the same band. Three practical things do change:
- You wait longer. Applications after 9 July are assessed in the order received, behind the priority queue, during SUSI’s busiest months. A decision in October or November is normal for an August application, and any request for documents adds weeks on top.
- You miss the first payment run, which was Thursday 10 September 2026 for higher education and 15 October for PLC. You start college without the grant in your account.
- You are back-paid. Once awarded, with bank details entered and your college’s registration confirmation in, every instalment you missed arrives in your first payment. SUSI also runs weekly Thursday payments from September to December for students confirmed after a scheduled date. A student approved in November gets September and October in one lump.
Fee grants are less time-sensitive: SUSI pays the student contribution or fee contribution to the college whenever the award is finalised. Tell your fees office you have a SUSI application pending so they do not chase you for the €2,500 in the meantime.
How to apply late, properly
Register or log in at susi.ie today and start the 2026/27 application; do not wait for a college offer, a Course Change Notification in the portal fixes the course later. Use real 2025 income figures from payslips or a Statement of Liability, because guesses trigger document requests and document requests are what turn a six-week wait into a twelve-week one. When a checklist letter appears, send every document together with your W2627 number on each page. The full walkthrough is in the how to apply guide.
Before you apply, spend a minute on the calculator. If income is clearly over €120,000 (fewer than 4 children), the application is not worth the paperwork; if it is anywhere near a threshold, the deductions SUSI allows may bring you under.
After the final closing date: late applications
Once the scheme closes, SUSI accepts an application only with a completed Late Application Form (emailed to [email protected]) giving one of these reasons. These are the 2025/26 rules; the 2026/27 form is not yet published and will follow the same pattern:
- Your course starts late in the academic year, after the closing date.
- Extenuating circumstances prevented you from applying in time.
- Your circumstances changed: reckonable income, number of dependent children, another family member starting an approved course, normal residence, nationality or immigration status, or a change of course or institution.
“I did not know about SUSI” or “I was waiting for a CAO offer” are not on the list. If none applies, the honest answer is to apply for 2027/28 when it opens (renewals opened in early March and new applications on 1 April for the current year) and look at the funds below for this year.
Alternatives if you missed SUSI or were refused
Student Assistance Fund
The Student Assistance Fund (SAF) is the closest thing Ireland has to an emergency student fund. The Higher Education Authority allocates it to universities, technological universities and other approved colleges, which assess applications locally. It covers books and materials, rent, heating and lighting, food, essential travel, childcare and medical costs. It does not cover tuition fees, the student contribution or loan repayments, and it is not available in PLC or further education colleges. Apply through your college’s access or student services office; some colleges set a closing date, so ask in September. Awards vary by college and by need, and SAF money does not count as income for SUSI.
1916 Bursary Fund
For first-time undergraduate entrants from priority groups (lone parents, Travellers and Roma, students with disabilities, carers on Carer’s Allowance, mature students, further education award holders and students from disadvantaged areas) whose household income for 2025 meets the SUSI special rate thresholds and includes a long-term social welfare payment. Applications for 2026/27 open in early September through the portal on 1916bursary.ie; TU Dublin lists 3 September to 9 October 2026 as guideline dates. Each college has a limited number of bursaries. If SUSI has already awarded you a grant, you can consent to SUSI confirming your special rate eligibility to the bursary team instead of sending income documents.
Fund for Students with Disabilities
Not cash, but real support: assistive technology, note-takers, personal assistants, sign language interpreters and transport. Your college applies on your behalf once you register with its disability or access office. Available at PLC level as well as higher education.
Bursary for Care Experienced Young People
Up to €5,000 towards tuition fees, paid to the college, for anyone with at least six months of care experience before their 18th birthday who is not getting a SUSI fee grant. For 2026, applications run from Monday 31 August to 5pm on Friday 2 October through Tusla.
College hardship funds and other routes
Many colleges run their own small, fast, discretionary hardship funds through the students’ union welfare officer or the access office. Ask in your first week. Student Accommodation Assistance (for Traveller, Roma and care-experienced students) also goes through college access offices. And if you are unemployed, parenting alone or on a disability payment, the Back to Education Allowance may be an option; note that BTEA recipients cannot also receive SUSI maintenance.
Frequently asked questions
Is it too late to apply for SUSI for 2026/27?
No. The priority closing dates (11 June 2026 for renewals, 9 July 2026 for new applications) affect how quickly you are assessed, not whether you can apply. Applications stay open until the final closing date, which SUSI has not yet announced for 2026/27. Last year’s scheme closed on 6 November 2025.
What happens if I miss the SUSI final closing date?
SUSI only accepts an application after the closing date if you complete its Late Application Form with an accepted reason: your course starts late in the academic year, extenuating circumstances stopped you applying, or your circumstances changed (income, dependent children, a family member starting college, normal residence, nationality or immigration status, course or institution). Without one of those, you apply for the next academic year.
What is the 1916 Bursary?
A bursary for first-time undergraduate entrants from groups under-represented in higher education, whose household income is within the SUSI special rate thresholds (under €28,600 for fewer than 4 children in 2025) and who are in one of the priority groups. Applications for 2026/27 open in early September through 1916bursary.ie and are assessed by the participating colleges.
Sources: priority dates from susi.ie; final closing date status and late application rules from citizensinformation.ie; Student Assistance Fund from hea.ie; other funds from the Citizens Information financial supports for students page (edited 2 September 2026) and 1916bursary.ie. Checked on 5 September 2026.