Student Assistance Fund

HEAR Student Support Fund

Students who enter UCD through the HEAR pathway are eligible to receive funding from funding through UCD Access and Lifelong Learning as they have already been means-tested and assessed as part of their CAO application.

The Fund is a contributory payment which helps students meet some of the day-to-day costs associated with being in college. Students must be fully registered to a full-time undergraduate programme of study, progressing normally (i.e. not repeating a stage).

Students registered for one semester only should make an appointment with a member of staff in Access and Lifelong Learning to discuss their financial needs after they have completed their registration.

To receive this funding, you need to:

1. Complete an online application form (opens in a new window)through SISWeb (Programme > Welfare and Assistance > HEAR Student Support Fund)
2. Submit a HEAR SSF Budget Form 2023-24 detailing your estimated budget and stating what expenses you are requesting support for from the Fund. This form must be downloaded, filled out and signed and then emailed back to (opens in a new window)allstudentsaf@ucd.ie

Application Guidelines:

• The application form can be found on SISWeb, under the ‘Programme’ tab and the ‘Welfare and Assistance’ section. It is called HEAR Student Support Fund.
• In the section marked Statistical Information, HEAR students should select "Full Time Education" and "Upper Secondary" for the first two drop-down menus.
• You do not need to provide physical receipts for your costs. In the section marked ‘Receipts’, you need to indicate what you will use the €650 payment for. Please note the amount should add up to exactly €650.
• You must also complete a budget form (see above) based on your Trimester 1 costs and income. Your expenditure must exceed your income by at least €650.
• The budget is very important for you to plan your expenditure for the semester and to show us that you have a sense of your college costs, can manage money well, and that you are in need of this fund.
• Be aware that to comply with European Union requirements, data will be collected as part of the application process which may be used for the purposes of coordinating, monitoring and evaluating the operation of the Fund. This data may be shared with third parties for monitoring and reporting on European Social Fund co-financed activities.

Incorrectly completed forms will lead to delays with your application being processed, so please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or need any guidance with your form.

Full-Time Students who are Parenting

Additional financial support is available through the Student Assistance Fund for low income students who are parenting. In order to successfully apply for this support students must first be approved for funding by the university Student Support Fund in the current academic year. Students can apply for the Student Support Fund (opens in a new window)via SISweb (Found under: Programme Services > Welfare and Assistance > Student Support Fund).

Full time students, who meet the low income household threshold (€50,840) and who are parenting (either alone or as part of a partnership) are eligible for a top-up payment of €650, in addition to the standard SSF payment.  

Making an application;

Complete the online Student Assistance Fund application through your (opens in a new window)SISWeb account (Under Programme > Welfare and Assistance).

• Note: One parent family applicants should identify as "Single Adult Household with Dependent Children" and select either: Lone Parent/Full-Time student in the drop-down menus on this form.
• You will only be able to upload one document to your online application so please merge all pages of all documents into one file and upload that. If you don't upload supporting documents, your application will not be processed.

Providing proof of parenting status; 

Students who are parenting in partnership and have been assessed for the SSF on a joint income must provide evidence of parenting role (e.g. one of their children’s birth certificates).

Parents who are parenting alone and have been assessed for SSF on a single income must provide proof of One Parent Family status.

Proof of One Parent Family status may be:

• Social Welfare statement indicating a One Parent Family Payment
• Social Welfare statement indicating a Job Seekers Transitional Payment
• Social Welfare statement + evidence of having been receipt of a Job Seekers Transitional Payment within the past four years
• Social Welfare statement + receipt from a Disability Payment indicating the full rate for one adult and any dependent children
• Statement of Tax Liability indicating either SP or LP tax credits.
• Birth certificate of child.

'SP' means single parent tax credit 

'LP' means lone parent tax credit 

Please don’t hesitate to contact ALL staff if you have any questions or need any guidance with applying by emailing: (opens in a new window)all@ucd.ie

Part-Time Student Support Fund

The Student Support Fund (SSF) is available to assist part-time students on a low income (€50,840) household threshold with the day to day costs of participating in higher education.  Part time students can avail of €325. Part-time students who are parenting (either alone or as part of a partnership) are eligible for a top-up payment of €325, in addition to the standard SSF payment of €325.

Please note eligible part-time courses are courses that lead to a higher education award from level 6 to level 10. Students on courses that do not lead to a higher education award are not eligible to apply for the Part-Time SSF. 

How to Apply

1. Complete an online application form on SISWeb (Found under Programme Services > Welfare and Assistance)

2. All applicants must submit a Part time income declaration form 2023, (opens in a new window)a Statement of Liability(opens in a new window), or a Social Welfare Statement confirming 2022 income and a Budget Form Part-time 2023

Please note: Your Budget Form must indicate an expenditure of at least €325 more than your Income.

• These forms must be downloaded, filled out, signed and attached to your application form on SISWeb.
• Please note you may only be able to upload one form on your online application, so please merge all documents into one file and upload that.
• If you have a problem uploading documents to your online application you may email them to (opens in a new window)allstudentsaf@ucd.ie 
• Please indicate in the subject line of the email the fund you are applying for e.g. Part Time / Parenting SAF

Note: If you do not provide your documents this may delay your application being processed.

3. Students who are Parenting, must tick the box to indicate they are parenting on their online application to be assessed for the additional Parenting Support Fund.

Note: One Parent Family applicants must identify as ''single adult household with dependent children'' from the drop-down menu and select Lone parent/part-time student on the drop-down menu.

Students who are parenting in partnership and are applying on the basis of a joint income must provide evidence of parenting (e.g. one of their children's birth certificates).

• Parents who are parenting alone and are applying on the basis of a single income must provide proof of One Parent Family status. 

Proof of One Parent Family status may be:

• Social Welfare statement indicating a One Parent Family Payment
• Social Welfare statement indicating a Job Seekers Transitional Payment
• Social Welfare statement + evidence of having been receipt of a Job Seekers Transitional Payment within the past four years
• Social Welfare statement + receipt from a Disability Payment indicating the full rate for
  one adult and any dependent children
• Statement of Tax Liability indicating either SP or LP tax credits

Please don’t hesitate to contact the ALL Team if you have any questions or need any guidance with applying by emailing (opens in a new window)all@ucd.ie