Do Fetac courses qualify for Susi ?

Karen23

My son has just been offered a place on a Project Futsal course run by the FAI. They told him to apply for Back to Education Allowance but he doesn't qualify because he's 17 and not signing on.

Completion of the course results in a Fetac Major Award but the course itself is free of charge.

Does anyone know if he can apply for Susi or is there anything else he qualifies for either now or when he's 18 in December ?

Thanks in Advance.

trihead

Yes Fetac/QQI level 5 and 6 full awards qualify.

http://www.studentfinance.ie - useful website also www.susi.ie

Sup08

Karen23 wrote: »

My son has just been offered a place on a Project Futsal course run by the FAI. They told him to apply for Back to Education Allowance but he doesn't qualify because he's 17 and not signing on.

Completion of the course results in a Fetac Major Award but the course itself is free of charge.

Does anyone know if he can apply for Susi or is there anything else he qualifies for either now or when he's 18 in December ?

Thanks in Advance.

Although Fetac/PLC courses do qualify for SUSI maintenance grants the courses have to be approved. In general this means it has to be run by a publicly funded college/organisation. Therefore is the course is run by the FAI, I don't think it would qualify.

Karen23

I seem to be getting conflicting information everywhere.

I contacted Susi, they said if it's a full-time course and at least PLC level 5 then it qualifies. I contacted Project Futsal who confirmed it was both of the above. But Social Welfare told me no , it doesn't qualify for Susi only Back to Education Allowance but my son doesn't qualify for this as he hasn't been signing on/unemployed for 3 months.

So hard to get a straight answer.

Sup08

Karen23 wrote: »

I seem to be getting conflicting information everywhere.

I contacted Susi, they said if it's a full-time course and at least PLC level 5 then it qualifies. I contacted Project Futsal who confirmed it was both of the above. But Social Welfare told me no , it doesn't qualify for Susi only Back to Education Allowance but my son doesn't qualify for this as he hasn't been signing on/unemployed for 3 months.

So hard to get a straight answer.

Here is the Statuary Instrument (S.I.) that lists all of the approved institutions. Click Here
If there is a course that is not being held by a listed institution in the S.I., then it would be listed at the end of the S.I. as an approved course.

As before, it has to be a publicly funded institution to be eligible for a SUSI grant and the applicant must not be in receipt of any other monies from public funds (Examples: BTEA, VTOS, Jobsbridge or A FAS Apprenticeship Scheme)
Courses held by private institutions, unless at the request of a public institution, are not covered by the student grant scheme.

AFAIK, the FAI would not be eligible unless the course was being done on behalf of a publicly funded institution.

More info:
On the Project Futsol FAQ page it does only specify BTEA and not a SUSI grant. Here is the page.