Student Support Fund

• Students who are EU nationals and are currently registered to a full-time UCD programme of at least one year’s duration which leads either to an undergraduate or postgraduate qualification. Applicants must be registered to the current academic year and to modules. 
• International/non-EU fee paying students are not eligible for funding. However, students who are non-EU nationals, but are eligible for free or reduced fees in line with the criteria for the (opens in a new window)Free Fees Initiative, and who are currently registered to a full-time UCD programme of at least one year’s duration which leads either to an undergraduate or postgraduate qualification may be considered.
• PhD students are eligible to apply for the SSF within the first four years of their studies. Students on a no-cost extension may also submit an application for consideration.
• Students with a previous higher-education qualification at the same NFQ level may be considered for support. This will be on a case-by-case basis, and any decision will be made subject to available funding.

HEAR students, part-time students and parenting students must make their application via UCD Access & Lifelong Learning. Please email UCD Access & Lifelong Learning at (opens in a new window)ALLstudentSAF@ucd.ie for assistance with your application.

This includes:

• Persons qualified for protection under Section 60 of the International Protection Act 2015, including Ukrainian students who are currently registered as higher-education students, on approved courses or authorised transition arrangements in approved publicly-funded institutions in Ireland. To qualify, the student must have been granted permission to reside in the State by the Minister for Justice pursuant to Section 60 of the International Protection Act 2015. The student must be residing at an address in the State, and attending or intending to pursue an approved course in the current academic year. 
• Irish Nationals who were attending a Higher Education Institution in Ukraine during the previous academic year and have now returned to Ireland due to the ongoing conflict, are now residing at an address in the State, and enrolled on an authorised transition programme during the current academic year.

• Students who have non-EU status and those attending foundation or access courses are ineligible for the University-wide Student Support Fund.
• Students who have completed a degree/Masters/PhD and are undertaking a second qualification at the same NFQ level will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Students from Graduate Entry programmes will be considered.

The following students should email UCD Access and Lifelong Learning ((opens in a new window)ALLstudentSAF@ucd.ie) for information about making an application:

• HEAR students
• Part-time students
• Students who are parenting

The annual income limit for eligibility for the Student Support Fund for academic year 2025/26 is €58,470. Supporting documentation from the previous tax year will be required to prove that applicants meet this requirement.

The Student Support Fund is divided equally across all approved applicants until such time as the fund is exhausted. Payment varies from year to year. For the academic year 2025/26, eligible students registered to the full academic year will receive a one-off payment of €650. Eligible students registered to one trimester will receive €325.

Applications can be made through SISWeb from 1 September 2025 until 6 March 2026 when the SSF closes.

Applications are processed in the order in which they are received. It is therefore advisable to apply early. Due to the large number of applicants, we advise students to expect a response within 6-8 weeks of submission. Students may submit only one application per academic year.

Please read the guidance below carefully before applying. This will help you to determine if you are eligible to apply and gives you important information about the SSF and how to make an application through your SISWeb account. Please also read carefully the section on supporting documentation.

If you have any questions after reading the guide, please contact your Student Adviser to discuss any queries you may have.

To apply, please follow these steps: 

1. Check that you meet the means-tested income limit: Eligibility for support from the SSF is based on a defined and appropriately-documented income figure. 
2. Source your supporting documentation: e.g. SUSI letter, Statement of Liability, Social Welfare Statement, Notice of Assessment. Your application will be returned to you and will not be processed if you do not have the correct supporting documentation when you apply. Further details on supporting documentation can be found in the next section.
3. Combine your supporting documentation: You will be able to upload only one document to your online application so please save all pages of all documents into one file. We recommend that you upload your documentation as a PDF. Click here to learn how to merge multiple pages into one document.
4. Log into your SISWeb: On SISWeb, click on the Programme Services tab > Welfare & Assistance > Student Support Fund.
5. Complete the online form: Please complete the income section accurately and ensure that the details are consistent with your submitted documentation. Upload your supporting documentation file. Your application will be returned to you and will not be processed if you do not upload the appropriate supporting documentation when you apply.
6. Click save: save: Your application status will display 'awaiting verification' until the SSF Administrator has reviewed your application. You will be notified directly if there are any outstanding requirements. Please bear with us as this may take some weeks due to the large number of applicants to the SSF.

Note: You do not need to submit receipts.

Applicants must satisfy a means test to determine if they are eligible for support from the SSF. The annual income limit for eligibility for the 2025/26 SSF is €58,470.

Note: Failure to upload the appropriate supporting documentation relating to your application means that we will not be able to process it. This will result in the application being returned to you and a delay in your application being fully processed.

Applicants are strongly encouraged to request the appropriate financial documentation from the relevant source as early as possible as it can sometimes take time to obtain the correct documentation.

At least one of the financial documents listed below must be uploaded to your application. This document needs to clearly show the household income of the relevant family/parent/guardian. A PDF is the preferred document type. Note: Screenshots from phones or websites will not be accepted.

• 2025/26 SUSI Award Letter (all pages):  You must upload all pages of the letter of confirmation of receipt of your SUSI grant. The letter should clearly display your name and address. Please ensure that any password encryption is removed before uploading. Click here to learn how to remove a password from a document. 
• 2024 Statement of Liability (previously known as P21) for parent/guardian: The relevant person can get this online at (opens in a new window)www.revenue.ie(opens in a new window) or by contacting their local Revenue Office. You can submit one for yourself if you were 23 years or older on 1 January of the year you started your course.
• Social Welfare Statement: Statement from your local Social Welfare Office showing the total amounts received for the tax year 2024. The Social Welfare Statement must show payments for January-December 2024. (opens in a new window)Click here to request a social welfare statement. 
• Notice of Assessment for 2023 or 2024 for parent/guardian. (If applicable, a current letter from the Revenue Commissioners exempting the relevant person from filing a tax return or equivalent from another state.)

Note: You will be able to upload only one document with your online application so please save all pages of documents into one file. Click here to learn how to merge multiple pages/files into one file. 

• Independent mature student (over 23 years on 1 January of the year you started your course): Please submit all financial details relating to your personal circumstances as opposed to those of a parent or guardian. 
• Eligible EU nationals from outside of Ireland: You will need to supply scans/photos of original income documents for your parents/guardians. If you were 23 on 1 January of the year you started your programme, you may submit documents in your own name. All uploaded documents must be translated into English. You may use, for example, Google translate to translate your documents. All uploaded documents must cover the period January-December 2024. This means that you may need to upload documents for more than one year if the period January-December 2024 is not covered by one document.

Please see the links below for acceptable examples of each type of documentation:

Example of SUSI Award Letter

Example of Statement of Liability

Example of Social Welfare Statement

Example of Notice of Assessment

Frequently-asked Questions 

• What is a Statement of Liability?
  This is a form from Revenue previously known as a P21 and is a statement of total income, tax credits, and tax paid for a particular tax year.
  
• How do I get a Statement of Liability?
  (opens in a new window)You can request this from the Revenue Commissioners
• My parents are self-employed. What documents are required?
  You need a Profit/Loss account and Balance Sheet to show income. You also need a Notice of Assessment Certificate for 2023 or 2024; this is provided by Revenue once your accounts have been submitted and tax has been paid. Your accountant will be able to provide the relevant information. 

The status of your application can be seen on your SISWeb. 

Due to the high volume of applications when the SSF opens, application approval can take up to 6-8 weeks. When your application moves from 'Awaiting Verification' to 'Application Verified', this means that your application has been approved and that funding should be received within 1 week. Please ensure your nominated bank account details are correct on SISWeb. 

You will be contacted by email if there are any outstanding requirements for your application. We would kindly ask that students do not repeatedly email to check their application status as this can slow down the verification process. 

Please note: Your application will not be processed until correct and complete supporting documents have been uploaded to your application. 

Common errors which lead to applications being delayed or rejected are:

Supporting documents being uploaded in the incorrect format and therefore cannot be accessed and verified. Please upload your supporting documentation as a PDF. 

Please ensure any documentation is not corrupted or password-protected before uploading to your SSF application. In particular, please ensure that you have removed the password encryption on your SUSI Award Letter. This can be done by clicking 'print to pdf' which will allow you to save and upload the document without the password. More detail can be found by clicking this link. 

All documentation must be in English so that it can be assessed and verified. You may use Google translate to translate your documentation.

Please ensure that you tick the correct checkbox, HEAR or Non-HEAR, when applying. Mistakenly clicking the wrong checkbox will send your application to the wrong department and prevent it from being assessed in a timely manner.

Words inserted where numbers should be or numbers inserted where words should be may cause errors in your application and will result in your application not being properly submitted. 

All enquiries in relation to the SSF must be by email to (opens in a new window)sfs@ucd.ie. The SSF Administrator will respond to your email as soon as possible.  Please do not email any supporting documents to this email address unless requested by the SSF Administrator.

Your Student Adviser, Chaplain or the Students’ Union Welfare Officer may also be able to assist you with general queries. You can find your Student Adviser here.

If you are unsure whether or not you may be eligible for financial assistance from either the Student Support Fund or the Student Emergency Fund please contact your Student Adviser in the first instance.

HEAR, part-time and parenting students should visit this page on the Access and Lifelong Learning Centre webpage, or e-mail UCD Access and Lifelong Learning ((opens in a new window)ALLstudentSAF@ucd.ie) for assistance with their applications.

Any personal data provided to University College Dublin, National University of Ireland (“UCD”) will be processed by UCD as data controller in accordance with data protection law. For further information on how UCD uses your personal data and for information on your data protection rights and how to exercise them, please see the UCD Data Protection Policy.

Please note: 

• Personal data collected as part of the application process may be processed for the purposes of coordinating, monitoring and evaluating the operation of the SAF. 
• This personal data may include special category data, including sensitive data such as socio-economic status, where they choose to share that data.
• This data may be shared with third parties such as the HEA for the purposes of allocating funding and for monitoring.

If you are unsure whether or not you may be eligible for financial assistance from either the Student Support Fund or the Student Emergency Fund please contact your Student Adviser in the first instance.