1916 Bursary – Athlone

Important Information – Application information for 2023 has not been released yet from the HEA – Please keep checking this page for further updates.

What is the 1916 Bursary Fund?

The 1916 Bursary Fund is a targeted funding scheme being offered to a number of undergraduate students experiencing socio-economic disadvantage who are coming to third level education in September 2023 for the first time.

All of the Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are awarding the Bursaries as regional clusters. The Midlands East & North Dublin (MEND) cluster is made up of four HEIs) – Dublin City University, Dundalk Institute of Technology, Maynooth University and Technological University of the Shannon: Midlands Midwest (Athlone campus).

Tiers of Bursary

There are three “tiers” of bursary available:

Tier 1 Bursary – worth €5,000 per annum

Tier 2 Bursary – worth €2,000 per annum

Tier 3 Bursary – worth €1,500 payable for the 2022/23 academic year only

The application process is the same for all three tiers – the outcome of which bursary a successful applicant will receive will depend on how many other applicants there were, and how those applicants were ranked by a centralised scoring system. Therefore, each applicant is considered for all three tiers of bursaries and each successful applicant will be awarded a single bursary (either Tier 1, 2 or 3).

Please note: there is no automatic entitlement to a 1916 Bursary. Many students will meet the eligibility criteria of the scheme; however, the number of bursaries available is limited.

The MEND Cluster includes four HEIs – DCU, Maynooth University, Technological University of the Shannon: Midlands Midwest (Athlone campus) and Dundalk Institute of Technology. Between them, these four HEIs must share 48 Tier 1 bursaries and 21 Tier 2 bursaries (the number of Tier 3 bursaries will be decided by the HEA depending on the amount of funding left at national level). Last year, we had a maximum of 10 Tier 1 bursaries available. A bursary will not be awarded to successful applicants until they have been formally offered a place at the HEI to which they are applying, and confirmation has been received that they satisfy all eligibility criteria as set out by the HEA.

Check out The 1916 Bursary website and The 1916 Bursary Explained video for more info.

Frequently asked Questions

Who is the 1916 Bursary for?

The bursaries are targeted at students who are experiencing socio-economic disadvantage and who are from one or more of the following socio-economic groups that have low participation rates in higher education:

Students with a disability – particularly students with a physical/mobility impairment, students who are deaf/hard of hearing and students who are blind or have a visual impairment
Irish Travellers
Roma community members
Students who are carers
Lone parents and teen parents in receipt of social welfare
First time mature students entrants
2nd chance mature applicants
Ethnic minorities (including programme refugees)
People who are or were in the care of the state

Please read the data protection notice prior to applying for the 1916 Bursary.

What do I need to do before I start my application form?

You must:

agree to the data sharing policy in order to proceed with the application
Locate your 9 digit CAO number
Locate your email address
Provide your phone number
Find your Eircode. If you do not know it click here (https://finder.eircode.ie/#/)

All documentation should be submitted at the time of application. Once you press “submit” no further documents can be upload.

Click here for the list of supporting documentation.

1916 Bursary Applicant Guidelines for Students

Before you complete the online application form, read through the 1916 Bursary Applicant Guidelines for Students to see if you are eligible and how to get prepared to apply.

Please note that the questions in the application form that require a document upload can only accept one digital file per question. If you upload a second document, this replaces the first one. If you have two or more pages or documents to upload per question you need to create a single digital file first. Please see the guidelines on providing supporting documentation for more details on how to do this: Supporting Documentation – The 1916 Bursary

Data Protection

TUS Athlone Data Protection Policy – 1916 Bursary

All of the higher education institutions are administering the 1916 Bursary Scheme on a regional basis, known as clusters. One of the clusters is the Midlands, East and North Dublin (MEND). This is made up of four higher education institutions: Dublin City University (DCU), Technological University of the Shannon Athlone campus (TUS), Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT), and Maynooth University (MU).

By completing an application for the 1916 Bursary, you will be submitting your personal data to TUS and if you appeal an unsuccessful application, your personal data will be shared with staff in the above-named MEND institutions involved in the Appeal process. These are: Dublin City University (DCU), Technological University of the Shannon (TUS), Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT), Maynooth University (MU). TUS is the Data Controller in relation to your personal data (see ‘Data Protection Rules’ below). Certain elements of your personal data will also be shared with the Higher Education Authority (HEA).Personal data that you submit using this application form will be used only for the purpose of processing your application for the 1916 Bursary. Your data will be treated in accordance with the Data Protection Policies of each Organisation. The website links and contact emails for each are listed at the end of this statement.

Why do we need your data?

By applying for the 1916 Bursary you will be required to provide us with the following personal data:

Name, address, Eircode, date of birth, mobile phone number, email address, country of birth, nationality

If it applies to you, information about: the Free Fees Scheme, your residency status in Ireland, your main entry route into the college, and the HEAR/DARE Schemes.

Information in your own words about: your educational hopes and aspirations; your financial situation, and your personal circumstances.

In relation to the Bursary, this personal data is necessary for:

verification of your identity
the assessment of your application,
eligibility for the Bursary fund
the selection of successful applicants,
the provision of additional supports.

Separately, an anonymised version of your information will be shared with the HEA, in order to comply with the 1916 Bursary Scheme’s reporting requirements.

If you do not provide the requested data and agree to the above, your application for the Bursary cannot be processed.

Data protection rules

Data protection concerns the safeguarding of privacy rights in relation to the processing of your personal data. This includes any information that can identify you. This may, for example, include a name, email address, date of birth or telephone number.

We must comply with of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Acts 1988-2018 when we collect and use your personal data. We act as ‘Data Controllers’ in respect of your personal data, and comply with our responsibilities under these laws.

How your personal information will be used

We will only process such data for the purpose for which you provide it and to the extent necessary to process your application in line with the regulations attached to this Bursary.

You have the right to withdraw your consent to processing and you also have the right to access any personal data relating to you on request (see ‘Your Rights’ section, below).

The personal data you submit will be held for a period of 10 years. The personal data may be disclosed by each Organisation to relevant internal staff and agents in order assess this application and to deliver support services to you.

We may also share personal data with government departments, statutory bodies and funding agencies where this is required under legislation or for the provision of services to you.

Security

The submitted application forms will be stored securely with access is only available to named members of TUS staff involved in assessing the applications. A record of responses is generated as applicants submit their forms and is converted to a Microsoft Excel file. Application details will be stored on a secure network, and password protected.

Your rights

Under data protection rules, you have rights as a ‘data subject’. These rights include:

The right to be informed about what happens to information relating to you (personal data) (Articles 12-14 of GDPR);
The right to access information relating to you which is held by TUS (Article 15, GDPR);
The right to rectification, to correct any errors in your personal data (Articles 16 & 19, GDPR);
The right to erasure, to delete/destroy information relating to you which is held by TUS (Articles 17 & 19, GDPR);
This right is not absolute and we may have to keept some data in line with legal requirements of the Bursary.
The right to data portability (Article 20, GDPR);
The right to object to processing of information relating to you (Article 21, GDPR);
The right of restriction, to limit the way TUS uses information relating to you (Article 18, GDPR); and,
Rights in relation to automated decision making, including profiling (Article 22, GDPR).

Who to contact

If you have any questions in relation to how your personal data is used by that higher education institution, you may contact that institution’s Data Protection Officer, datacompliance@tus.ie. If you have any questions in relation to access, supports or the 1916 Bursary Scheme, you may contact the Access Office (access@ait.ie). To find out more about how TUS processes personal data go to the Data Protection section of our website. In addition, the Data Protection Commission (DPC) is the official authority overseeing data protection in Ireland. You have the right to lodge a complaint with the DPC if you believe your personal data is being processed by us unlawfully. To find out more information about how to make a complaint to the DPC, please visit dataprotection.ie

Consent declaration

You are required to indicated the following on the application form.

that you have read and fully understand the above statement and its contents

that you consent to the obtaining, processing and retaining your personal data for the purposes described in the above statement.

You have the right to withdraw your consent for the processing of your personal data at any time before the grant is paid. When you withdraw consent your application will be stopped and all the information you have submitted to us will be confidentially destroyed.

We will retain your notice to withdraw consent.

Further 1916 Bursary Fund FAQs

For further FAQs about the 1916 Bursary Fund please visit the 1916 Bursary Fund website here.