Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Prior to the establishment of DFHERIS and the transfer of functions from DES to DFHERIS, the then Department of Education and Skills annually awarded a number of bursaries to Leaving Certificate students who were progressing to higher education. The bursary schemes that were in operation since 2012, targeted students from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds and these included the The William C. Campbell Bursary. One student is currently in receipt of this bursary and will continue to receive it until their studies are completed.

Prospective beneficiaries of the Department administered bursary schemes were required to be first time Leaving Certificate students and from a DEIS school (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools). Students who were awarded Department of Education and Skills bursaries also qualify for SUSI grants.

The changes brought about by the calculated grades process and the establishment of a new Department for Further and Higher Education in 2020 created an opportunity to review and re-orientate the various bursary schemes to ensure that they are supporting the most disadvantaged students, such as those belonging to the target groups under the National Access Plan (NAP) and are more reflective of the diverse nature of first time applicants to higher education. Therefore, effective from 2021, all students who were in receipt of a third level bursary continued to receive their bursary for the duration of their course.There were no new third level bursary recipients from that point onwards.

The Programme for Access to Higher Education (PATH) was established in 2016 and one of its strands, Strand 2, allocated bursaries known as the 1916 Bursary to 200 students identified by their HEIs as being the most socio-economically disadvantaged students under the NAP. In 2021 we moved to expand on the PATH 2 bursary scheme and in 2022/23 academic year the following were allocated:-

• 253 Tier 1 bursaries worth €5,000 per annum
• 120 Tier 2 bursaries worth €2,000 per annum
• A number of once-off bursaries (Tier 3) worth €1,500 payable for the 2022/23 academic year only

Details of the bursary can be found on www.1916bursary.ie and www.studentfinance.ie.