NSFAS Appeal Complete Guide Everything You Need To Know April 2024

Introduction

The National Student Financial Aid Scheme sometimes referred to as NSFAS is a tertiary financial aid program for South Africans who are pursuing various programs at public tertiary institutions such as University or TVET in 2023.

For some applicants who have applied for this aid may have been turned down or declined for various reasons.

What does NSFAS Appeal Mean?

NSFAS have a stringent criteria when it comes to selection of qualified applicants for the financial aid. If the applicant fails to meet any of the requirements, he or she will be denied whether the applicant is a first time student or continuous student.

Fortunately, since errors are inevitable as far as humans are concerned, NSFAS has given room for such applicants who feels they were unduly declined to appeal the decision taken by the scheme managers.

Who Qualifies Or Can Apply For NSFAS Appeal

As already mentioned, it may happen that during the online application, the applicant might have made a mistake in submitting the correct information or documentation to prove eligibility, which may have led to the applicant not been approved.

In any case, NSFAS will give the exact reason why they declined the application from which the applicant can appeal if he or she thinks otherwise. NSFAS will have to reconsider the appeal with supporting documents submitted by the affected applicant.

If after the reconsideration, NSFAS has enough grounds to approve the application, they will do so accordingly and consequently notify the said applicant.

NSFAS Appeal Applications For Continuing Students

Are you declined for NSFAS or your funding has stopped because you are no longer eligible for the fund, you can appeal for a review. Follow these procedures to appeal when you are a continuing student.

• Get a copy of the NSFAS Appeal Form for Continuing Students which can be collected from the institution. A link to download a copy if the appeal form will be left at the end of this post.
• Fill in all the necessary information information and submit to the applicant’s Financial Aid Office of the attending institution.
• According to NSFAS, an appeal application will only be considered if it follows the appeal criteria and also incomplete appeal forms will not be considered.
• It has to be noted that, appeals application will be reviewed by the institution’s Financial Aid Committee or in some cases, a designated committee and make recommendations for NSFAS for final approval.
• When filling the forms, write in Capital letters and must be readable and clear.
• All necessary documents for example : Proof of loss of income, death certificate, medical records, academic records etc, must be submitted or attached alongside.

What Items To Be Considered or Needed When Appealing NSFAS Decline

With reference to the 2021 NSFAS application, the following are the items or the information one may be required to complete when filling out the appeal forms for Continuing Students :

• Name as on the ID documents
• Surname as per the ID documents.
• ID Number as per the ID documents.
• Application Reference Number (was given during the first application for NSFAS funding)
• Student Number given by the institution of study.
• Course or programme of study.
• Name of institution attending
• Date of Appeal.
• Year of study.
• If previously funded by nsfas, indicate the last year of funding.
• Current funding status.
• Reasons for the appeal : (You tick the one that best suits your situation –
  1. Failure to meet academic performance requirements
  2. Change in financial circumstances
  3. Loss of bursary sponsor.
  4. Incorrect academic reports /results submitted resulting in the non-renewal of funding.

NSFAS Appeal Closing Date

It has to be noted that this article makes reference to the current application calendar thus 2021 and as such 2021 benchmark is used. The closing date for the nsfas appeal applications is 31st May 2021.

It has to be noted once again that, late or incomplete forms will not be accepted nor considered.

NSFAS Appeal For New /Fresher Students Online

Going forward, NSFAS has incorporated an online service platform to help applicants who have been declined for NSFAS funding to appeal the decision electronically.

Aggrieved applicants can do so using their MYNSFAS portal and below are the simple instructions to follow :

• Sign in into your mynsfas account through the official website of NSFAS thus : www.nsfas.org.za
• Click on the “Track Funding Progress” tab.
• Check the application progress tab.
• In case the application status is unsuccessful, you have opportunity to appeal that decision.
• Simply click on the “Submit Appeal” tab.
• The “Application Appeal” page will show the exact reason for the unsuccessful status.
• At this stage, you are to write a motivation letter or give reasonable concerns why your application should be reconsidered or reversed.
• The motivation letter must not be more than 1000 (thousand) characters including spacing. The text field provided for the letter will show characters of your letter.
• Upload documents to back your claim and it can be up to five documents which will serve as some sort of evidence.
• After reading through your motivation letter and the documentation and satisfied, then click on “Submit Appeal”.
• Just as you could track your application progress, you can likewise track your appeal application progress on the mynsfas dashboard.

How long does NSFAS Appeal Process Take?

For many applicants who appealed their unsuccessful application status, they would want to know how long it will take for the nsfas appeal process.

One thing is clear here : it all depends on the number of appeal applications being worked on. NSFAS does not have a definite number of days or weeks or duration for appeal.

What is more important is to meet the deadline and submit all the relevant information on time, even if delays nsfas will pay all outstanding fees in case the decision is overturned to the applicant’s favour, thus if finally approved.

Read Also: What Does NSFAS Stand For and how does it fund students

How To Write NSFAS Appeal Motivation Letter

As mentioned above, you will have to submit a motivation letter or in other words reason why you think your appeal application must be considered and funding restored or continue or started (in case of first time applicants.

Video below will also serve as a guide

• You need to address the recipient of the letter as it is done in formal writing of letter. Like “Dear Sir”.
• Mention your name and current institution and course you’re studying.
• Appreciate nsfas effort to help citizens who are pursuing various programs, who if not nsfas funding, will never have had the opportunity.
• State the exact reason convincingly why may be you failed in an exams or because of sickness or illness of a family member.
• Thank them for taking the time to reconsider your request.
• Make reference to the documents attached.
• And conclude your letter and sign.

https://youtu.be/7Wo8KzHsoMo

We have taken a lot time to make sure you are provided with the accurate information, but there is something which is not covered, you can use the comment section below this post and hope be responded to immediately. In 2023, there has been some few changes especially in the payments of the bursary.