All Ireland Scholarships Scheme

Twenty-five scholarships, funded by businessman JP McManus, will be awarded to top-performing students for the length of their undergraduate degree course.

Nineteen scholarships are made available to the top-performing A Level students from grant-aided post-primary schools, and six scholarships to the top Level 3 Extended Diploma students from Further Education colleges, with one scholarship being awarded to each student in each of the six FE colleges.  A minimum of two scholarships will be offered in each county of Northern Ireland, based on the students' home addresses.

The scholarships provide financial help to top-performing students from low-income backgrounds.

The value of each scholarship is currently £5,850 per year for the duration of a course.

This scholarship opens in March 2026 for the 2026/207 academic year.

The deadline for receipt of applications is  4 p.m. on Thursday, 27th August 2026.

You can get full details about the 2026/27 scholarships at All Ireland Scholarships.

To be eligible for a scholarship, you must be in receipt of Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) and due to commence a full-time undergraduate course in university in the academic year of 2026/2027.