Financial assistance is available to mature students in respect of attendance at approved postgraduate courses under the higher education grants scheme and the vocational education committees scholarships scheme which are administered by the local authorities and vocational education committees, respectively, under the aegis of my Department.
In general, candidates continue to be assessed, throughout their third level study, by reference to the terms and conditions of the scheme relevant to their year of entry. However, mature candidates who are re-entering in order to complete an approved course at undergraduate level for the first time or mature candidates re-entering in order to pursue or complete an approved course at postgraduate level for the first time are assessed under the terms of the scheme relevant to their year of re-entry.
Under the terms of the schemes re-entering means entering as a mature student following a break of at least one year and having previously attended an undergraduate or postgraduate course approved for the purposes of the higher education grant schemes. The schemes also provide for the consideration of candidates who, having attended but not successfully completed an approved course, are returning, following a break of at least five years, in order to pursue an approved course at the same level – second chance students.
The booklet, referred to by the Deputy, is a guide to the range of student support schemes and other measures designed to assist students in further and higher education. It does not purport to cover all aspects of the schemes. Readers are advised in the first page of the booklet that any queries regarding eligibility will be determined by reference to the full text of the appropriate scheme.
The full text of all four schemes of student support is available on my Department's website.
