Who is the HEAR access route for?

To meet this criteria your family income falls on or below the HEAR Income Limit.

Add €4,785 to the total income for every sibling/parent enrolled in a full-time college, university or Post Leaving Certificate further education course. 

*A dependent includes:

• A sibling under the age of 16 years on 1 October 2025.
• A sibling over the age of 16 years on 1 October 2025 who is either: attending post primary education.
• Attending a full-time course in FET or higher education.
• Medically certified as permanently unfit for work.
• A parent attending a full-time course in FET or higher education

Please Note: HEAR requires evidence of a full year’s income for 2024 (i.e. 52 weeks). Some applicants depending on their parent(s)’/guardian(s)’ circumstances in 2024 may need to submit Revenue documents and/or evidence of other income as well as evidence of DSP income. Your guardian may not necessarily be your legal guardian, but refers to who you lived with and contributed to the household income in 2024. If you have indicated income from both parents you must submit documents detailing both their incomes. Please go to the Applicant Checklist (click here to get there) for more information about which documents are the right ones for you to submit.

To meet this Indicator, you or your family have to have medical card/ GP visit card that was in date on 31 December 2025.

In order to assess your application, HEAR seeks permission to contact the HSE directly to verify that you or your parent(s) or guardian(s) have a medical card or a GP visit card that is in date on 31 December 2025. You can supply us with the information for yourself or your parent(s)/ guardian(s).

If you have a medical card in your own name, you should enter your own PPS number in Section 3 of the HEAR online application form. If you do not have a medical card/ GP visit card in your own name but your parent/ guardian does, you should enter their name, date of birth and PPS number in Section 3 of the HEAR online application form.

Social Welfare payments are broadly divided into three types: Contributory payments are based on your Pay-Related Social Insurance (PRSI) record. Whether you qualify for a payment depends on having a certain number of PRSI contributions. These types of payments are commonly referred to as Social Insurance payments. Non-contributory payments require you to satisfy a means-test and be an ongoing resident in the State. These types of payments are commonly referred to as Social Assistance payments. Payments and benefits such as Child Benefit and Free Travel do not depend on PRSI contributions or means. Only means-tested social assistance payments count as a HEAR indicator.

The most common means-tested social assistance payments are:

• Carer’s Allowance
• Disability Allowance
• Working Family Payment (WFP) (formerly know as Family Income Support, FIS)
• Jobseeker’s Allowance (JA)
• One-Parent Family Payment (OFP)
• State Pension (Non-Contributory)

Other acceptable means-tested social assistance payments are:

• Back to Work Enterprise Allowance – Self-employed year 2-4
• Back to Work PAYE work
• Deserted Wife’s Allowance
• Guardian’s Payment (Non-Contributory)
• Jobseeker’s Transitional Payment
• Part-Time Job Incentive Scheme
• Pre-Retirement Allowance (PRETA)
• Prisoner’s Wife Allowance
• Blind Pension
• Rent Allowance
• Supplementary Welfare Allowance (SWA)2
• Widow’s or Widower’s (Non-Contributory) Pension.

Delivering Equality of Opportunity In Schools (DEIS) is an initiative of the Department of Education and Skills aimed at lessening educational disadvantage and bringing about social inclusion in primary and second level education. Traditionally, few students from these schools go on to third level education. Also, children from DEIS schools tend to leave school earlier and do less well academically than students from other schools. Further information on DEIS, including a listing of all DEIS schools, is available on the DES website: www.education.ie.

You must have completed five years in a secondary school that takes part in the DEIS scheme in order to meet this indicator.

The list of schools on the online application includes every second level DEIS school in the country listed as the official school name. HEAR can only assess on the information provided on the online application.

If you attended more than one second level school, you are asked on the online application to enter details of all schools.

When you apply to HEAR, your address is checked against an index and you are given a score that indicates how disadvantaged your neighbourhood is. To meet this indicator, you must live in an area that is disadvantaged, very disadvantaged or extremely disadvantaged. For applicants who have experienced homelessness while in post-primary education between January 1st 2024 and March 1st 2026 . Applicants who experienced homelessness during their post-primary education and are registered on the Pathway Accommodation and Support System (PASS) will meet the Area Profile criteria.

HEAR uses information from a deprivation index of relative affluence or disadvantage. The index is based on information gathered in the 2022 Census. The country is divided into small areas and each area is assigned an average score ranging from extremely disadvantaged to very affluent. HEAR will also ensure to include the applicant. To check the classification of your address, please click the link below to view the map. 

Pobal Maps

The HEAR scheme recognises specific groups are particularly disadvantaged. Research has identified that students from the following groups are particularly under-represented in higher education in Ireland. In order to increase the number of HEAR students from these groups
progressing to higher education, HEAR has agreed to prioritise the following groups:

•  Care-Experienced Applicants.
• Applicants who wish to be identified as a member of the Traveller Community in their HEAR application.
• Applicants who wish to be identified as a member of the Roma Community in their HEAR application.
• Young Parents.
• Applicants who are both HEAR and DARE eligible.

HEAR uses a scoring system to assess for HEAR eligibility and to determine if applicants should be considered for priority HEAR reduced points places. The scoring for each target group is as follows with the following pages showing you where to seek further information from the HEAR handbook:

Below are the scores allocated by the HEAR scheme under each of the criteria. HEAR applicants must achieve a criteria score based on meeting these criteria.

Below are the scores allocated by the HEAR scheme under each of the criteria. HEAR applicants must achieve a criteria score based on meeting these criteria.