Once you've got your grant, the next thing you'll want to know is how and when you'll get your money.
The way that your grant is paid depends on what type of course you are on.
PLC Students
If you are doing a Post Leaving Certificate Course (a PLC course) then you will be paid monthly into your bank account. The VEC of the county your college is situated in pays your grant.
So here in Westmeath VEC we pay students in all of the Westmeath PLC colleges; Moate Business College, St. Joseph's Summerhill, Castlepollard Community College, Athlone Community College, Mullingar Community College and Columba College Killucan. For students in these colleges, we'll be making the next payment on Friday, 20th April 2012.
If you're doing a PLC course outside of Westmeath, then you should contact the VEC of the county your college is located in. Here's a list of VEC contact numbers.
Higher Certs and Ordinary Degrees
If you are doing a Higher Certificate or Ordinary Degree course in an Institute of Technology, your grant is paid monthly by the college into your bank account, so you should call into the student grants office in the college to check the payment date with them.
If you're in Athlone I.T., our local Institute of Technology here in Westmeath, you can check out all of the payment dates for the current year at www.ait.ie/feesandgrants/grants/
Honours Degrees
If you are doing an Honours Degree course then we pay your grant by cheque, three times a year - once in every semester. Your cheque is sent to your college for you to collect. The third semester cheques are due to arrive in colleges during the week commencing Monday 16th April 2012.
Refund of Student Contribution
When you register for a full-time course at an Institute of Technology or University here in Ireland, you have to pay a fee, which is called the Student Contribution. This is currently €2000. Luckily, if you're on the grant, you might get some (50%) or even all of this paid for you.
So if you paid your Student Contribution to your college before you were awarded your grant, you may be entitled to get some or all of this back. Call into the student grants office in the college to ask about getting it refunded.
Westmeath VEC is not responsible for the content of external websites. This page updated 2nd April 2012.
