A CFA scholarship encourages the participation of learners from sections of society that are significantly under-represented in higher education by offering one free place on all of our CFA short courses. Our CFA scholarships offer the opportunity for learners to sample a range of different short courses across NCAD, IADT and UCD and to unlock their creative talent.

CFA offers one scholarship per course,  applications are assessed by an independent panel and awarded to eligible applicants.

A CFA scholarship represents a fee waiver for successful applicants for the course of their choice. 

One scholarship is offered per course.

Students who are successful in their scholarship application will be required to commit to the following:
Providing a 300-word essay/personal statement that outlines their course of study and the scholarship’s impact. To be sent on completion of the course.

To be eligible for a CFA Scholarship, all applicants must meet the eligibility criteria outlined below. 

Financial + Priority Group + College Entry = Eligible for consideration.

Eligible CFA Scholarship applicants must be from one or more of the following priority groups:

Students from disadvantaged backgrounds or from communities who have low levels of participation in higher education. This includes:

• Students who have a household income of less than €24,500; 
• Students who have experienced homelessness, the care system, survivors of domestic violence, and those who have experience of the criminal justice system
• Irish Travellers
• Asylum seekers
• Members of the Roma community
• First-time mature students
• 2nd chance mature students
• Students who are carers (confirmed by the Department of Social Protection (DSP) as holding a long-term means-tested carer’s allowance)
• Students with a disability
• Lone parents or teen parents (confirmed by the Department of Social Protection (DSP) as holding a long-term means-tested social welfare payment)
• Ethnic minorities
• Further education and training award holders progressing to higher education
• Applicants must be Irish, EU, EEA, UK or Swiss National or have specific leave to remain in the State. If you have EU nationality or official refugee status, then you may also apply. Applicants need to have been living in Ireland, the EU, EEA or Switzerland for the past three out of five years.

Please check individual course pages for application form.

Note: CFA scholarship applications must be submitted no later than the course application deadline. Applications after the course deadline will not be considered.