Asylum seekers who have been in secondary school for three years are now eligible for financial supports to access university courses after their Leaving Certificate.

Previous criteria required students to have been in secondary school for five years, the Department of Education has said.

This is similar to the residency requirement of the statutory-based Student Grant Scheme operated by SUSI.

International protection system

Under the new measures, grant support will be open for prospective students who are in the broad international protection system, other than those at the deportation order stage.

This includes:

• Asylum applicants (protection process) – a person who has made an application for refugee status but where a determination has not been made,
• Subsidiary protection applicants (protection process) – a person who has made an application for subsidiary protection but where a determination has not been made,
• Leave to remain applicants – a person who has completed the protection process (asylum and/or subsidiary protection) and whose eligibility for leave to remain has yet to be considered.  

The scheme will operate for the 2019/20 academic year. It will be reviewed in 2020.