Information for School Leavers (pdf) - Citizens Information Board

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Financial support A number of financial assistance schemes are available to help you through further and higher education. Citizensinformation.ie and studentfinance.ie provide information on course fees and details of eligibility requirements for free fees. Tax relief is available on fees paid and can also be claimed by someone who pays the fees on your behalf. Maintenance grants You may apply for a maintenance grant if you are planning to take: • an approved full-time course at third level • an approved full-time PLC course • a course leading to a Higher Certificate or Ordinary Bachelor Degree in an Institute of Technology Family and/or personal income will be assessed when you apply for a maintenance grant but there are also other conditions. You must be at least 17 years of age on 1 January of the year following your application. If the grant is for a PLC, you must be at least 16 years of age at the start of the course. The value of the grant is set each year. If you are awarded a maintenance grant you will get payment in instalments throughout the academic year. The grant does not cover the cost of registration or examination fees. There is a new residence requirement for applications. You must have been resident in the State for three of the previous five years. You must also meet nationality requirements. 6 / Lo-call: 1890 777 121
The rates of the grant are different depending on whether you live near to where you are studying. If you live more than 45 kilometres from your college you are paid a nonadjacent rate. You can qualify for a partial grant if your family income is above the limit for full maintenance. There is a special extra grant for disadvantaged students which tops up the ordinary grant. You may qualify for this if you or your parents are getting certain social welfare payments or taking part in certain programmes (see citizensinformation.ie for information). In 2011 this is €2,980 for students getting the non-adjacent rate (€6,100 in total) and €1,195 for students getting the adjacent rate(€2,445 in total). Ordinary maintenance grant rates for 2011 Rates (in euro) Non-adjacent rate Adjacent rate Full maintenance 3,120 1,250 Part maintenance (75%) 2,340 940 Part maintenance (50%) 1,560 625 Part maintenance (25%) 780 315 If you think you are eligible for the maintenance grant, you should apply for it when the application process opens, usually in June of each year. You do not have to wait until you get an offer of a place or enrol in college. Currently there are four maintenance grant schemes administered by local authorities and Vocational Educational Committees (VECS). A single unified scheme of grants will be introduced in May 2011. Visit studentfinance.ie for more information on maintenance grants. You can also find information on other forms of student support (such as scholarships) at studentfinance.ie citizensinformation.ie / 7
Page 1 and 2: Information for school leavers
Page 3 and 4: Leaving school Leaving school can b
Page 5: Further education and training As a
Page 9 and 10: Vocational Education Committees (VE
Page 11 and 12: ut if you have been getting a socia
Page 13 and 14: To qualify, you must get the permis
Page 15 and 16: Emergency tax If you don’t apply
Page 17 and 18: What is the Universal Social Charge
Page 19 and 20: What is the minimum wage I am entit
Page 21 and 22: Joining a trade union Trade Union m
Page 23 and 24: in 2009. If you had no earnings tha
Page 25 and 26: Social welfare There are two types
Page 27 and 28: At what age can I… Leave school A
Page 29 and 30: Apply for a National Age Card Age 1
Page 32: The Citizens Information Board prov

Information for School Leavers (pdf) - Citizens Information Board

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?