SUSI Grant Guide 2026/27: Eligibility, Rates and How to Apply
A SUSI grant is Ireland’s main student grant for further and higher education. It can pay a contribution towards your living costs (a maintenance grant), your college charges (a fee grant), or both. Whether you qualify depends on your nationality, where you have lived, your course and your household income. You apply online at susi.ie, and you do not need your Leaving Cert results or a CAO offer to apply.
This guide explains the grant for Leaving Cert students and their parents, with a short section for guidance counsellors at the end. All figures are for the 2026/27 academic year, the latest SUSI has published. We checked them on susi.ie, gov.ie and Citizens Information on 7 October 2026. SUSI has not yet published the rates or dates for 2027/28, the year that matters for students now in 6th Year, so check susi.ie before you apply.
Key dates
| When | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1 April 2026 | SUSI opened for new and renewal applications for 2026/27 (gov.ie). |
| 11 June 2026 | Priority closing date for students renewing a grant. |
| 9 July 2026 | Priority closing date for new applicants. Applications made by this date got priority assessment (SUSI). |
| After 9 July 2026 | SUSI still accepts 2026/27 applications, without priority assessment. The final closing date had not been announced on 7 October 2026. The 2025/26 scheme closed at midnight on 6 November 2025 (SUSI). |
| 10 September 2026 to 6 May 2027 | The nine monthly maintenance payments for higher education students, paid on Thursdays (SUSI payments). |
| 2027/28 | Not yet open. In recent years SUSI has opened for new applications in early April: on 1 April 2026 for 2026/27 and 3 April 2025 for 2025/26 (SUSI news). |
If you are in 6th Year now, plan to apply as soon as SUSI opens for 2027/28 and before its priority date, even if you are still unsure of your course.
What Budget 2027 means
Budget 2027 was announced on 6 October 2026. It includes a permanent €150 reduction in the student contribution, new and enhanced student contribution grants for families with more than one child in higher education, and a 4.5% increase in SUSI maintenance grant rates from January (Minister Chambers’ Budget 2027 statement, gov.ie). SUSI had not published the new rates on 7 October 2026. Until it does, the 2026/27 figures below are the current ones.
What SUSI is
SUSI (Student Universal Support Ireland) is the awarding authority for the Student Grant Scheme, the main financial support for students on full-time courses in Ireland and abroad (Citizens Information). There are two types of grant (SUSI):
- Maintenance grant. A contribution towards day-to-day living costs. It is paid into the student’s bank account in nine instalments over the academic year.
- Fee grant. Paid directly to the college. It can cover all or part of the student contribution, tuition fees for students who don’t qualify for free fees, and the cost of compulsory field trips.
Most undergraduate students on publicly funded courses don’t pay tuition fees, because of the Free Fees Initiative. They still pay an annual student contribution to the college. For 2026/27 the maximum student contribution is €2,500 (Citizens Information). A SUSI fee grant can pay some or all of it.
SUSI grants are available for PLC, undergraduate and postgraduate courses. This guide focuses on full-time undergraduate courses in Ireland, the route most Leaving Cert students take.
Who is eligible
You must meet all of SUSI’s eligibility criteria.
Nationality
You must be an Irish, EU, EEA, UK or Swiss national, or hold one of the immigration statuses or permissions to remain from the Department of Justice that SUSI lists on its nationality criteria page.
Residence
You must have lived in Ireland, the EU, the EEA, the UK or Switzerland for three of the last five years. If you lived in one of those places, but not in Ireland, for three of the last five years, SUSI treats you as a “tuition student”: you can get a fee grant but not a maintenance grant (SUSI residency criteria).
Your course and progression
Your course must be an approved course in an approved institution. You must also be progressing: the course must lead to a higher qualification than any you already hold, and you can’t get a grant to repeat part of a course, except in exceptional circumstances (SUSI progression criteria).
This matters if you start a course and then change. SUSI gives this example: if you completed three months of a Level 7 course, then start a different Level 7 course, you would get six maintenance payments instead of nine. There are also limits on the total years of funding at each level, for example up to four years at undergraduate Level 8, unless the normal length of the course is longer.
Household income (the means test)
SUSI looks at your household’s reckonable income for the previous calendar year. For 2026/27, that is gross income from all sources between 1 January and 31 December 2025 (SUSI income criteria).
Most Leaving Cert students apply as dependent students: you are under 23 on 1 January of the year you start college, so your own income and your parents’ or guardians’ income are assessed together.
Some things to know about the means test:
- Some payments are not counted. SUSI lists them on its income page. They include Child Benefit, Carer’s Allowance, Fuel Allowance, the Housing Assistance Payment and the Working Family Payment.
- Holiday earnings. If you worked during the Christmas, Easter or summer holidays while you were in education, SUSI can deduct up to €8,830 of those earnings for 2026/27.
- Rent-a-Room income. Up to €14,000 of income claimed under Rent-a-Room Relief, and declared to Revenue, can be deducted. This helps families who host a student in digs.
- Family size. The income limits are higher for households with four or more dependent children. They also rise for each other member of the household in full-time further or higher education at the same time, by €4,950 or €4,785 depending on the grant band (Citizens Information).
- A change in circumstances. If a parent lost their job, had a permanent pay cut, retired or closed a business from 1 January 2026, you can ask SUSI to assess the current year instead (SUSI).
How much you could get: 2026/27 income limits and rates
The tables below come from SUSI’s full-time undergraduate thresholds and rates for 2026/27. Your reckonable income must be under the figure shown.
| Grant band | Fewer than 4 dependent children | 4 to 7 dependent children | 8 or more dependent children |
|---|---|---|---|
| Special rate of maintenance, plus fee grant | €28,600 | €31,350 | €33,980 |
| Band 1: full maintenance, plus fee grant | €47,010 | €51,520 | €55,850 |
| Band 2: part maintenance, plus fee grant | €48,270 | €52,900 | €57,345 |
| Band 3: part maintenance, plus fee grant | €51,040 | €55,940 | €60,635 |
| Band 4: part maintenance, plus fee grant | €58,470 | €64,080 | €69,465 |
| No maintenance: 50% of tuition fees or 100% of the student contribution | €64,315 | €70,490 | €76,410 |
| No maintenance: 50% of the student contribution | €71,300 | €78,145 | €84,710 |
| No maintenance: €500 towards the student contribution | €120,000 | €131,520 | €142,570 |
In the special rate and Bands 1 to 4, the fee grant covers 100% of tuition fees or 100% of the student contribution, plus the field trip element.
Maintenance grant rates for 2026/27
| Grant band | Non-adjacent rate (college 30km or more from home) | Adjacent rate (college under 30km from home) |
|---|---|---|
| Special rate | €7,936 | €3,230 |
| Band 1 (full maintenance) | €4,722 | €1,774 |
| Band 2 (part maintenance) | €3,532 | €1,343 |
| Band 3 (part maintenance) | €2,702 | €975 |
| Band 4 (part maintenance) | €1,866 | €612 |
These are totals for the academic year, paid in nine instalments.
Adjacent or non-adjacent?
The rate depends on the distance from your normal home to your college. For a dependent student, that is your parents’ or guardians’ home. SUSI measures the shortest, most direct route using Google Maps with set options, from your Eircode to the college campus Eircode (SUSI adjacency rules). If the distance is 30km or more, you get the higher non-adjacent rate.
The special rate
The special rate is for students from households on a low income who get certain long-term social welfare payments. To qualify for 2026/27, household reckonable income must be under the special rate limit (€28,600 for fewer than four dependent children), and on 31 December 2025 the household must have been getting an eligible payment or taking part in a designated programme. Examples include One-Parent Family Payment, Disability Allowance, Carer’s Allowance, Working Family Payment, the Community Employment Scheme, and Further Education and Training courses, including apprenticeships. SUSI has the full list of eligible payments.
Example: reading the tables
Example (for illustration only). A family has two dependent children. Their reckonable income for 2025 is €50,000. Their daughter starts a full-time degree at a college 80km from home in September 2026.
€50,000 is above the Band 2 limit (€48,270) but under the Band 3 limit (€51,040). So she would be in Band 3 at the non-adjacent rate: a maintenance grant of €2,702 for the year, about €300 a month over nine instalments, and her student contribution paid in full.
Reckonable income is not always the same as a family’s gross pay, because SUSI counts some income and excludes or deducts other amounts. Use SUSI’s Eligibility Indicator for a guide, but only SUSI’s assessment is final.
How to apply, step by step
- Check your eligibility. Read the criteria and try the Eligibility Indicator.
- Create your SUSI student portal account. You need your PPS number, name, date of birth, email address and phone number (SUSI, how to apply). Citizens Information notes that you can also use a verified MyGovID account to create and log in to your SUSI account.
- Complete the online application. SUSI’s application form guide explains each section. Section F asks about income. If you are unsure whether to include some income, include it.
- Give the course you hope to study. You can update it later. CAO applicants who opt to share their course details with SUSI don’t need to submit a separate Course Change Notification form, because CAO passes the details to SUSI (SUSI, submitting documents).
- Add your parents as consented contacts, if you want SUSI to speak to them. SUSI can only discuss your application with someone else if you give consent, in “My Details” in your portal (SUSI online consent).
- Send any documents SUSI asks for. You get a checklist letter if SUSI can’t confirm your details through its data sharing with other government bodies.
- Get your decision. SUSI sends an award letter or a refusal letter. You can follow progress with the application tracker in your portal.
- Get ready for payment. Register with your college, which then confirms your registration to SUSI, and add your bank details in the portal. The account must be an open, active euro account in the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) (SUSI payments).
- Renew every year. SUSI emails you to renew for each year of your course. You need a new application, not a renewal, if you change course or college, start a one-year add-on course, or return after deferring (SUSI renewals).
Documents to have ready
SUSI only asks for documents when it can’t confirm details another way, and what it asks for depends on your application. Its Guide to Supporting Documents explains what it accepts. It helps to have these ready:
- PPS numbers and correct dates of birth for everyone named on the application.
- Details of all your household’s income for the previous calendar year (2025 for a 2026/27 application).
- Details of other dependent children in the household, and of anyone else in the household in full-time further or higher education.
- The Eircode of your home, which SUSI uses to measure the distance to college.
- Your birth certificate, if asked. SUSI needs the long version if you were born in Ireland.
- A euro bank account in your own name for the maintenance grant.
When you post documents, include your application number (it starts W2627 for 2026/27) with all of them, send them all together, and send photocopies, not originals. Make sure everyone named on the declaration form signs it, because SUSI won’t accept an incomplete declaration. SUSI accepts documents in English or Irish.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Waiting for Leaving Cert results or a CAO offer. You don’t need either to apply. Waiting can mean missing the priority date.
- Typing errors in PPS numbers or dates of birth. SUSI says incorrect details will delay your application.
- Leaving out income because you’re not sure it counts. Include it and let SUSI decide.
- Assuming you won’t qualify. For 2026/27, a household with fewer than four dependent children and reckonable income under €120,000 could get €500 towards the student contribution.
- Missing a document deadline. Return documents by the date on the letter. If you need more time, contact the SUSI support desk.
- Forgetting the last steps. No payment is made until your college confirms your registration and your bank details are in the portal.
- Changing or repeating a course without checking the progression rules. It can reduce or end your grant.
- Not renewing. A grant is not automatic in second and later years.
If you disagree with the decision: review and appeal
You can ask SUSI to look again once you have its final decision. The grounds include the adjacent or non-adjacent rate, a reassessment of household income, the special rate, and a change in circumstances such as job loss, retirement, a change in the number of dependent children, a brother or sister starting college, a change of course, or a change of permanent address.
- Review. Request it in your portal under “My Requests”, giving full reasons and up to three supporting files (SUSI review).
- Appeal to SUSI. SUSI must receive your appeal within 30 days of your original grant decision. A SUSI Appeals Officer tells you the outcome in writing within 30 days (SUSI appeals).
- Appeal to the Student Grants Appeals Board. If you are still unhappy, you can appeal to this independent board after you get the Appeals Officer’s written decision. Citizens Information says you must do this within 30 days of the date of that letter. The board has 60 days to decide.
Wait for the outcome of one request before you submit another.
For guidance counsellors
- Timing. SUSI usually opens in early April, a few weeks before CAO Change of Mind opens, so it fits well into 6th Year guidance classes and parents’ evenings in the spring. Remind students of the priority date for new applicants (9 July in 2026).
- No results or offer needed. Students can apply with the course they hope to take and update it later. Sharing CAO details with SUSI saves them a form.
- Parents need to be involved. Most 6th Years are dependent students, so the application needs their parents’ or guardians’ income for the previous calendar year and their PPS numbers.
- Studying outside Ireland. For approved undergraduate courses in the EU or UK, SUSI offers a maintenance grant but not a fee grant (SUSI). Check SUSI’s outside-the-State rates before students commit.
- Other supports. Citizens Information also points students to the Student Assistance Fund and the Fund for Students with Disabilities (Citizens Information).
- Help for families. The SUSI support desk is on 0818 888 777, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5.30pm, excluding public holidays, or +353 1 966 3132 from abroad.
Grant planning sits alongside course choice. Our CAO application guide sets out the CAO dates for 2027 entry, and our student accommodation guide covers the biggest cost the maintenance grant helps with. To see how EirQuest and MyUniChoices support Senior Cycle guidance in your school, book a demo.
Next steps
- Students and parents: try the Eligibility Indicator, note SUSI’s opening and priority dates for your year, and ask your guidance counsellor if you have questions about grants, courses or the CAO.
- Guidance counsellors and school staff: book a demo to see MFC’s programmes for post-primary schools in Ireland.