The body responsible for awarding grants to third-level students in Ireland has said it is two months ahead of last year in processing applications.
Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI) has awarded grants to more than 10,000 of the 41,000 students who have submitted all of their requested documents.
A further 5,000 applications have been provisionally accepted pending the receipt of final course acceptance forms while 2,000 students have been asked to send more information. 3,000 grants have been refused or cancelled, with the remaining 21,000 applications now about be processed.
The body aims to begin awarding payments from Friday October 25th.
SUSI claims improvements to its system, which included opening the application process four weeks early and more specific requests for documents as the reason it is two months further ahead than it was this time last year.
By this date in 2012 not a single grant had been awarded and 43,000 students still hadn't returned their requested documents. By November, just 3,000 students had been paid.
SUSI is now urging students who have yet to send in requested documents to do so as quickly as possible.
Documents required include final course acceptance forms, notice of assessment of income for the self-employed and farmers and where applicants are living away from home, the correct documents to prove independent residency.
After its launch last year SUSI drew huge levels of criticism over its poor handling of third-level grants, with some students still waiting on theirs into summer 2013.
