1916 Bursary Scheme

There are three different types of bursaries:

Tier 1: Awardees will receive €5,000 per year for the normal duration of a full-time undergraduate programme and up to a maximum of six years for a part-time programme.

Tier 2: Awardees will receive €2,000 per year for the normal duration of a full-time undergraduate programme and up to a maximum of six years for a part-time programme.

Tier 1 and 2 bursaries will also be paid if students progress to an approved programme of study.

Tier 3: Awardees will receive a once-off bursary of €1,500 for the 2025/2026 academic year only. 

Applicants must meet financial, college entry and priority group criteria in order to be deemed eligible for consideration for a bursary.

Financial Criteria:

• Applicants must demonstrate that they would qualify for the special rate of maintenance grant under the Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI) Grant Scheme

and/or

• are in receipt of a Department of Social Protection (DSP) long-term means-tested social welfare payment.

College Entry Criteria:

• Applicants must be first-time new entrants to higher education for undergraduate study or be a second-chance socio-economically disadvantaged mature students where they have: (i) previously attended but not completed a course, (ii) had a three-year break in studies since leaving the course, (iii) are returning to attend an approved course and (iv) be over the age of 23yrs on the 1st January 2025.
• Applicants must have been resident in the State (Republic of Ireland) for three of the past five years on the date on which their first year of study commences.
• Applicants must be pursuing an approved full-time or approved part-time undergraduate course in one of the approved institutions in the regional clusters of HEIs.

Priority Group Criteria:

Applicants must be from one or more of the following priority groups:

• Students from communities, groups or areas that are socio-economically disadvantaged or that have low levels of participation in higher education;
• Students who qualify for the special rate of maintenance grant under the Student Grant Scheme (SUSI) and/or are in receipt of a Department of Social Protection (DSP) payment are also considered to be socio-economically disadvantaged;
• Socio-economically disadvantaged mature students (23 or older on 1 January of their year of entry to higher education – and having never previously accessed higher education);
• Students with a disability;
• Members of the Irish Traveller community;
• Members of the Roma community;
• Further education and training (QQI) award holders progressing to higher education;
• Students who are carers (confirmed by the Department of Social Protection (DSP) as holding a long-term means-tested carer’s allowance).
• Lone parents or teen parents (confirmed by the Department of Social Protection (DSP) as holding a long-term means-tested social welfare payment)
• Students who are migrants, refugees or who are from ethnic minorities who are lawfully present in the State.

Please visit https://1916bursary.ie/ for more information regarding the criteria eligibility.

Applications to the 1916 Bursary can only be made via an online application portal at https://www.1916bursaryportal.ie/en-US/

• Applicants are advised to read the Application Guidelines provided on this website before making an application.
• Applicants must apply online via the 1916 Bursary Application Portal.
• Applicants will need to register on the portal and authenticate their account by email and a security code before starting the online application.
• The online application has 7 sections:
  • Privacy Notice and Consent to Share Personal Data
  • Financial Criteria
  • College Entry Criteria
  • Priority Group
  • Additional Indicators
  • ESF Data
  • Terms and Conditions

Applications can be made between 4th September and 10th October 2025.

Please refer to www.1916Bursary.ie for further information.

If you doing a course in SETU Waterford and you need to make contact with someone please email [email protected] with your question(s).