[Photo: FILE]
The Tertiary Scholarships and Loans Service has confirmed that its scholarship allocation for the 2025–2026 financial year has been fully utilised, meaning no new scholarships will be awarded for Semester Two or Quarter Three.
Chief Executive Apisalome Movono says the funding allocation had been exhausted after a high number of successful applicants were awarded scholarships during the Semester One intake.
He attributed the increased demand to last year’s exceptional Year 13 examination results, which recorded a pass rate of about 95 to 96 per cent, leading to a significant rise in scholarship applications.
“To parents and students, this is something that we are very transparent about. And we understand that this puts pressure on all stakeholders, but this is something we have to bear with in the immediate future. But we will continue to support existing students and we will welcome new applications from the next few months as we look forward to receiving our allocations in the new year’s financial budget 2026-2027.”
The CEO states students hoping to begin tertiary studies in the second semester will now have to wait until applications open under the 2026–2027 budget.
He clarified that the announcement does not affect students who are already receiving TSLS scholarships, stressing that all existing sponsorships will continue as normal.
Movono also dismissed speculation linking the decision to other issues, saying it is part of TSLS’ normal operations and reflects its responsibility to administer scholarships within the budget allocated by the government.
