Frequently Asked Questions
Starting from around early July 2024, the Student Finance Office (SFO) will upload the “Household Application Form for Student Financial Assistance Schemes” together with the student-based School Certificate (SC) to the website of the Working Family and Student Financial Assistance Agency (WFSFAA), and distributed these documents through locations including schools and District Offices, for downloading and retrieval by applicants with children who are newly attending kindergartens / child care centres; applying for financial assistance for pre-primary students for the first time; or have not received pre-filled forms in the 2024/25 school year. These applicants should return the completed application form together with necessary supporting documents to the SFO directly online or by post as soon as possible or not later than 31 August 2024 for processing. Each family should submit one application only and do not need to submit the application form again (including electronic application form) unless advised by the SFO.
In addition, whatever paper-based or electronic application is submitted, applicants should submit the completed SCs to the schools for processing as soon as possible or not later than 31 August 2024, and schools should then return the SCs to the SFO.
The Student Finance Office has introduced the family-based “Household Application for Student Financial Assistance Schemes” to facilitate families with child(ren) attending primary and secondary schools or kindergartens / child care centres to apply for student financial assistance.
If the applicant has already applied for financial assistance for his / her children studying in primary/secondary level in the 2024/25 school year, no separate application is required for the children studying in kindergarten. The applicant only needs to indicate his / her wish to apply for the KCFRS and Grant-KG for the child(ren) in the same household application form.
Applicants are required to complete Parts I to III of the SCs and submit the completed SCs to the student attending schools as soon as possible or not later than 31 August 2024. Schools will certify on Part IV of the SCs before forwarding them to the Student Finance Office (SFO) for processing.
In case applicants cannot submit the SCs to the schools by the deadline with exceptional reasons, applicants have to return the SCs as soon as possible. Otherwise, disbursement of fee remission may be delayed. Upon receipt of the SCs verified by the schools concerned, the SFO will arrange disbursement of fee remission to the schools and payment to applicants will then be arranged by the schools.
Dependent parent refers to the parents of the applicants or the applicants’ spouse, who is not a recipient of CSSA at the time of submission of application. They must, throughout the assessment year (1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024), not in employment and meet any one of the following conditions for at least 6 months:
(A) resided with the applicant’s family; or;
(B) resided in premises owned or rented by the applicant or his / her spouse; or
(C) resided in elderly home and the expenses were fully paid by the applicant or his / her spouse OR totally
supported by the applicant or his / her spouse.
The applicant or his / her spouse should continue to support their parents in the 2024/25 school year and the form of support should be similar to that in the year of assessment. As the number of family members may affect directly the level of assistance the applicant's family is eligible for, the Student Finance Office (SFO) has the right to request applicants to provide supporting documents including tenancy agreement, residential address proof or receipt of the home for the elderly, etc. for verification of the dependence of the parents or request applicants to explain in detail the dependence status of the parents for the SFO’s consideration.
Applicants may consider providing copies of records of income as recorded in the bank passbook or notify the Student Finance Office (SFO) in writing, providing detailed calculation of income (e.g. using a self-declared statement of income detailing your monthly income throughout the year) and justifiable reasons to explain why income proof cannot be produced. The explanatory letter should be signed by the applicants. However, the SFO reserves the right to decide whether applications from those applicants who cannot provide justification for not producing income proof would be accepted.
For those applicants who apply for fee remission for children receiving whole-day child care services (i.e. groups aged 0-2 and 2-3), they should also state the average working hours per month during the assessment period.
The "social needs" assessment form should only be filled out if you are applying for fee remission for children receiving whole-day child care services (i.e. groups aged 0-2 and 2-3). The criteria for assessing 'social needs' are set out in the ‘Social Needs’ Assessment Form for Kindergarten and Child Care Fee Remission. Some salient points are set out below for applicants' attention:
a. Category 1
The period of employment should normally cover the entire assessment period from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024.
However, the Student Finance Office (SFO) will also consider cases whereby the parents of the student-applicants can
only meet the 120 / 104 hours criteria for a period after the normal assessment period up to the time of application
for the KCFRS (at least one month or more prior to applications) and can provide proof, such as appointment letters
or employment certifications with salaries and working hours, to support such claims. Based on the changes of the
employment status of the applicant / applicant’s spouse, the SFO will consider assessing
the applicant family’s 'Adjusted Family Income' and 'Social Needs' according to the applicant’s latest projected
annual family income and situation. (The SFO will adopt the same assessment period in
conducting overall assessment of the applicant’s AFI and social needs, having regard to his/her family’s latest
circumstances.)
b. Category 3 (b)
Student-applicants of unmarried parents who were born out of wedlock and are not under the care of both the father
and mother would have met the "Social Needs" assessment Category 3 (b) upon the applicant’s production of the birth
certificates of the children, relevant documentary proofs from the unmarried parent (e.g. the Certificate of Absence
of Marriage Record issued by the Immigration Department) and written declaration from the applicant that the
children are not under the care of both the father and the mother.
c. Category 3 (c)
Student-applicants who are orphans / semi-orphans under the care of relatives will have met the "Social Needs"
assessment Category 3 (c) upon the applicant’s production of the death certificates of the children’s parents /
other documents showing the loss of contact of the children’s parents and a self-declaration from relatives that
they have taken up the responsibility to look after the children.
d. Category 4 (e)
Student-applicants with a parent or guardian in prison or absent from home for other valid reason for long periods
will have met the "Social Needs" assessment Category 4(e) upon production of relevant proofs. Apart from social
worker’s recommendation, the SFO may consider applicants' self-declaration and the relevant
supporting documents such as copies of Two-way Exit Permit.
e. Category 5 (a)
Student-applicants who need whole-day care because of special conditions of other family members (e.g. physically or
mentally handicapped, chronically ill, senile, aged (over 70), or incapable of self-care) will have met the "Social
Needs" assessment Category 5 (a) upon the applicant’s production of the identity document(s) of the relevant family
member(s), medical certification issued by hospital or medical practitioner, or documentary proofs for
physically/mentally handicapped.
f. Category 6
Student-applicants from large families :
(a) Student-applicants with two or more siblings (at least two children aged below 6 must receive care at home)
(b) Student-applicants from families with four or more children aged below 12 (at least three children must receive
care at home).
g. Category 7
Other cases recommended by social workers :
Any student-applicant referred and recommended by social workers will have to met the "Social Needs" assessment
under Category 7.
In the circumstance where social worker’s recommendation is required, the applicant may seek assistance from his or
her social worker / his or her family’s social worker (for example, social workers of integrated family service
centres, integrated children & youth service centres, medical social service units, school social work services
and district elderly community centres). If the applicant is not receiving service from any social worker, he/she
may wish to, where appropriate, make enquiries to and seek assistance from the social workers of the subvented
non-government organisation operating the kindergarten/child care centre. Where the kindergarten / child care centre
is not operated by a subvented non-government organisation or the operator does not have social workers, the
applicant may approach any of the integrated family service centres in the neighbourhood of his / her residence for
assistance. Telephone numbers and addresses of integrated family service centres are available at the website of the
Social Welfare Department.
Computation Method of Fee Remission:
(i) Nursery, Lower and Upper Classes in Kindergarten (K1 to K3):
The percentage of fee remission under the KCFRS will be calculated on the annual net fee which has deducted all the government subsidies under the KG scheme. The Student Finance Office will compute the fee remission for the applicants in accordance with the level of assistance assessed using the AFI formula. The actual fee remission will be 100%, 75% or 50% of the actual fee charged by the kindergarten or the fee remission ceiling, whichever is the less. Detailed calculation is as follows:
refer to the actual annual school fee after deducting all the government subsidies under the KG scheme
(ii) Child Care Centre (group aged 0-2) / Child Care Centre (group aged 2-3)
The monthly fee remission will be 100%, 75% or 50% of the actual fee charged by the child care centre or the fee remission ceiling, whichever is the less. The formula used to calculate the fee remission amount is as follows:
You may also use the calculator to obtain a rough estimate of the amount of financial assistance you might obtain under the KCFRS (it covers both students attending whole-day child care centres and kindergartens under the KG scheme).