Student Grant (2022/23 School Year) Frequently Asked Questions
Eligibility Criteria
Q1: Who are eligible for the student grant?
A1: The student grant is non-means-tested. All students1, as at the date of application, studying in secondary day-schools, primary schools and special schools (including public sector schools, Direct Subsidy Scheme schools, English Schools Foundation schools and private schools) as well as kindergartens (whether having joined the kindergarten education scheme or not) offering local or non-local curriculum in Hong Kong, are eligible for the grant.
Students of evening schools, students of private studies, holders of student visas for entry into Hong Kong for studies and holders of Recognizance Forms issued by the Immigration Department are not within the scope of subsidy.
Taking into account that there are some students who should meet the eligibility criteria but attend other programmes owing to special circumstances, we also deem the following students eligible for the grant:
children at the age of two years and eight months or above as at 1 September of the school year concerned attending Special Child Care Centres subsidised by the Social Welfare Department owing to special needs;
newly arrived children attending the full-time Initiation Programme funded by the Education Bureau (EDB); and
students taking full-time programmes for Secondary 3 school leavers offered by the Vocational Training Council.
1 Kindergarten students have to be at the age of two years and eight months or above as at 1 September of the school year in order to be eligible for the student grant.
Q2: If there are over-aged students attending secondary, primary or special schools, will their age affect their eligibility under the grant?
A2: No. All studentswho are studying in kindergartens, secondary and primary schools (including special schools), regardless of their age, are eligible for the grant.
Q3: If an individual student is newly admitted during the school term, can he or she apply for the student grant?
A3: Newly admitted students (usually newly arrived students) who are enrolled before 30 June of the school year can still apply for the student grant.
Application Procedure
Q4: What are the differences between Form B and Form A?
A4: For the “Student Grant” Application Forms, there are Form B and Form A.
Form B is pre-printed with the basic information of the student as well as that of the applicant (applicable to students studying in the same school) while Form A is a blank form (applicable to students who are newly admitted to a school or have transferred to another school in this school year). Parents/guardians may fill in the application forms according to the circumstances set out below –
Form B:
In general, parents/guardians are only required to check the accuracy of the pre-printed information. If there is no need to change the information pre-printed, put a “✓” in the confirmation box at the bottom part of the form, sign to confirm and submit the application forms to the EDB through schools. .
If some of the pre-printed information on Form B requires updating (information other than Student’s Name in English, Name of Day-school and School Type), parents/guardians have to provide the amendment(s) in the space above the relevant information in BLOCK letters using black or blue ball pen (correction fluid or tapes should not be used for making amendment(s)), leave the confirmation box at the bottom part of the form blank and submit the application forms to the EDB through schools.
If Student’s Name in English, Name of Day-school or School Type pre- printed on Form B requires amendment(s), parents/guardians of the students concerned should use Form A for application.
Form A:
For students who are newly admitted to a school, have transferred to another school, individual students without Form B provided by the EDB or those with essential particulars (i.e. Student’s Name in English, Name of Day-school or School Type) requiring amendment(s), parents/guardians should use Form A for application.
Q5: The Application Form A is uploaded onto the EDB website and can be downloaded for use by parents. Can parents submit the completed application forms to the EDB directly?
A5: The Application Form A is uploaded onto the EDB website for individual parents or students who have lost or damaged the application forms and need a new form. As schools have to verify the student status, the application forms must be submitted through schools.
Q6: What can schools do if they cannot submit the application forms before the end of the period specified as individual students could not submit the applications before the end of the period specified?
A6: If individual students could not submit the applications before the end of the period specified, schools can return the completed Application Forms to the EDB by batches. The EDB will handle those applications submitted before the end of the period specified first.
Q7: If individual students change to another school during the school term, how can parents submit the applications?
A7: If an individual student changes to another school during the school term, parents can submit the applications through the student’s last attending school or the newly admitted school, but cannot apply in duplicate.
Q8: If parents have submitted their applications through schools, how can they know whether their applications have been received by the EDB?
A8: The EDB will notify the parents via SMS and/or email when their applications have been received.
Q9: Parents are required to choose the language of SMS notifications (Chinese/English) in the Application Form A. If parents have not made the choice, will they receive the SMS?
A9: If parents have not chosen the language of SMS notifications, they will receive the SMS in Chinese.
Q10: By what means can parents enquire about the progress of their student grant applications?
A10: The EDB will provide schools with progress reports on the applications via the Student Grant System (https://stgsfile.edb.gov.hk/) on a regular basis, which will help schools better understand the progress of the applications and communicate with parents on issues concerning the student grant. If individual parents have enquiries about their student grant applications, please contact the EDB’s Student Special Support Section Kwun Tong Office (email:
[email protected]; hotline: 3850 2000). Please provide student name, school name, parent name and contact number to facilitate follow-up.
Q11: If parents receive a notification from the EDB that amendments of the given information are needed and an amendment form of the Student Grant has been sent to the school, what can they do?
A11: When filling in the “Student Grant” Application Form, parents should provide correct information, such as student’s name, applicant’s name, bank account number, etc., and the bank account holder's name registered with the bank must be the same as the applicant’s name. If the EDB finds that the information provided by parents is incorrect or incomplete, a copy of the information provided will be sent to the school for follow-up. Parents are required to contact the school as soon as possible after receiving the EDB’s notification and return the amendment form to the school for further processing.
Disbursement of Grant
Q12: Why the subsidy is disbursed via bank transfer only but not by other means?
A12: As parents generally possess local bank accounts, the subsidy will be disbursed to parents via bank transfer.
Q13: Why must the applicant’s name be the same as the account holder’s name registered with the bank?
A13: As the subsidy will be directly deposited into the applicant's sole-name bank account via bank transfer, the applicant’s name must be the same as the account
Q14: Why does the subsidy have to be disbursed to a sole-name local bank account? Is it acceptable for parents to receive the subsidy through a joint account?
A14: To avoid disputes, no joint account will be accepted for disbursement of subsidy.
Q15: How can parents know that the subsidy has been disbursed?
A15: The EDB will notify the parents via SMS and/or email when the subsidy has been successfully disbursed.
Education Bureau
Updated version as at 1 October 2022
