Trainees and apprentices will lose allowances or face charges
The department of Education and Skills will pay eligible third-level students the same grant rates next year and, in a move welcomed by the Union of Students in Ireland, has not changed the incomes needed to qualify.
However, a previously-announced €250 increase, bringing student contributions to €2,750, will still go ahead. Apprentices, meanwhile, will face a pro-rata payment for the first time for their period of training at institutes of technology.