National Toppers Scholarship Schemes (NTS) are full scholarships for the top ranked Fijians who have completed their Year 13 or such equivalent studies as determined by the Board locally in the year preceding the award.

For simplicity, the awards for 2021 will be given to students who have completed Year 13 locally in 2020 and achieved the minimum mark required for priority areas established by the Government.

The Board being referred to is the Directors/Board members of the Tertiary Scholarship and Loans Board.

Such Equivalent studies as determined by the Board refers to relevant qualifications other than Foundation Studies and Repeat of Year 13 completed locally and are deemed to be equivalent of Fiji’s Year 13 qualification. As an example, Fijians studying at an international school in Fiji and have completed a high school qualification which is qualified as equivalent to Year 13 of Fijian Qualification Framework.

No. Any student completing Foundation Studies are no longer eligible to apply for NTS Local or Overseas scholarships. However, Foundation Studies students are eligible to apply for Tertiary Education Loans Scheme (“TELS”).

No. Students who repeat Year 13 or the Equivalence of Year 13 are not eligible to apply for NTS. A student has to be ranked as a National Topper in the first attempt in Year 13 or Such Equivalent Studies as determined by the Board. However, these students are eligible to apply for Tertiary Education Loans Scheme (“TELS”).

Currently there are 970 NTS Scholarships with the distribution as follows:

• 950 for Local Studies; and
• 20 for Overseas Studies.

The exact number of awards and the distribution per priority area will be determined on an annual basis. This will be as announced in the national budget and advertised by TSLB annually in the local print media.

An applicant must satisfy all of the following criteria to be eligible to apply for NTS:

1. Must be a Fijian Citizen;
2. Must be an ordinarily resident in Fiji for at least three years before the award commencement date;
3. Must be either in Year 13 or Such Equivalent Studies as determined by the Board at the time of applying for NTS. That is in the year before the scholarship award year;
4. Must be applying for one of the Fijian Government priority area as advertised annually by TSLB following the  budget announcement.
5. Must be ranked as a National Topper in the applied priority category and area applied for by meeting the annual cut off mark for each priority category;
6. Must secure a place in a Higher Education Institution by means of an offer letter.

• Fiji National University
• The University of the South Pacific
• University of Fiji
• Fulton University College
• Corpus Christi Teachers College
• Sangam Institute of Nursing

The current priority areas of the Fijian Government are divided into 11 categories. Click here to find out more on the priority categories and area of studies

No. You cannot apply for NTS to pursue any qualifications outside the national priority areas list as published by TSLB.

For programs not listed in the national priority list, you can apply for TELS.

In case you cannot find any program of your preference in the drop down menu on TSLB Online application portal, it means that the program is not part of the priority areas of the Fijian Government and as such does not qualify for NTS application.

You can either select another program which is in the drop down menu or apply for TELS to realize your dream qualification.

The current eligibility criteria for NTS Overseas Scholarships are that the applicant:

1. Must be a Fijian Citizen;
2. Must be an ordinarily resident in Fiji for at least three years before the award commencement date;
3. Must be either in Year 13 or Such Equivalent Studies as determined by the Board at the time of applying for NTS. That is in the year before the scholarship award year; and
4. Must be applying for a priority area published annually that is not offered or the equivalence of the program is offered by any higher education institutions in Fiji; and
5. Must have a valid offer letter from an overseas higher education institution for a priority area program not offered locally.

Currently there are no restrictions on the countries in which students can pursue their qualifications under the award.

However, the students must select countries and higher education institutions which are the most cost effective and are offering internationally ranked programs which are recognized and accredited with the Fijian regulatory and/or professional bodies.

In case where a student has applied for studies in a country where the costs are higher than some other cheaper destinations offering good quality qualifications, TSLB reserves the right to either ask the applicant to change the preferred country or decline the application.

No. Double degree is not funded under either the local or overseas NTS scholarships. Double degree means doing two degree programs simultaneously. An example of this is Bachelor of Accounting and Bachelor of Actuarial Finance.

However, you can do a program with double majors, a major and a minor, a single major program or what is commonly known as prescribed programs.

The minimum cut off mark for an application to be assessed for NTS is 300/400 in Year 13. This should be the aggregate score for English plus best three subjects as per Ministry of Education, Heritage and Arts. Anyone scoring below 300 will be ruled out from NTS and automatically a TELS Offer will be made.

However, a score of 300 plus does not guarantee any applicant a NTS Scholarship.  Each year the minimum cut of mark in general and for each specific category will vary based on how well the students have performed nationally.

As an example, there are 950 NTS Scholarships for local studies. Once Year 13 provisional results are received from Ministry of Education, Heritage and Arts, all marks will be ranked from the highest to the lowest.

After the marks are ranked nationally in the descending order, the top 950 students scoring above 300 will be identified. If in a particular year, let’s say the 950^th students mark is 305, then the general NTS cut off mark for the year would be 305. In another year if the 950^th students mark is 315, then the general cut off mark for the year would be 315 and so on.

As such there is no single cut off mark that can be applied in all years. As a general rule, anyone scoring below 300 will never be considered for NTS even if the quota of 950 scholarships for the year is not reached.

After the national ranking is done, ranking for each category is then carried out by TSLB. For example, category Tourism has 50 NTS awards. All students who have applied for this category are than identified and ranked in the descending order. The top 50 applicants with marks above 300 are identified. If the 50^th students mark is 306, then for the “Tourism Category” the cut off mark for that year is 306. In a similar way, ranking for each category is completed.

For NTS Overseas Scholarships, anyone with an aggregate score of less than 350/400 is not eligible for NTS assessment.

The following steps and criteria is used for all NTS application ranking and selection for awards:

1. After the application closing date, TSLB defines the application processing opening date.
2. Year 13 Provisional results are obtained from Ministry of Education, Heritage and Arts. Also results of any other equivalence studies as determined by the Board is considered.
3. Results for students who meet the application criteria as defined in Question 6 are ranked nationally from the highest to lowest.
4.  For Local Scholarships 950 highest ranked students with marks above 300/400 are identified and shortlisted in the descending order based on aggregate scores. For NTS Overseas Studies, top 20 students are identified.
5. After national ranking, applicants are then ranked from the highest to lowest marks within each category.
6. Applicants whose result does not meet the cut off mark are rejected for NTS and processed for TELS.
7. For ranking by each category, priority is given to students first preference. For example, when ranking for the category “Tourism” which has 30 scholarships, all the students who have stated tourism as their first choice are given first priority. That is all those with first choice as Tourism are given offers first. Only if the quota of 30 is not met with the first choices of the applicants, the students indicating Tourism as their second choice are considered. If the quota is still not filled based on all first and second choices of the applicants, third stated choice as Tourism by the applicants is considered for NTS.
8. Once the ranking and selection for each category has been completed, TSLB makes offers to successful applicants.
9. In case as successful applicant declines the offer, TSLB makes a new offer to the best ranked student from the reserve list.

As stated in Q&A No: 14, different categories have different cut off mark for NTS awards annually. There are 11 categories for NTS awards. These are Tourism, Medicine and Health, Engineering, Technology, Agriculture, Fisheries & Forests, Social Sciences, Environment/ Marine Science, Land/Town Planning, Commerce, Education and Special Areas –Diploma and Certificates.

Also as explained in Q&Q No: 15, each category has a quota and students are ranked from highest to lowest in each category and offers are made unless the quota is reached.

As an example, Category “Tourism” has 30 awards. Let’s say in 2021, when the students in this category are ranked, the 30^th ranked students mark is 306. This means that anyone with 306 or more marks applying for this category would get NTS. On the other hand, category “Social Science” also has 15 awards. Again taking year 2021 as an example, all students applying for the category will be ranked from the highest to lowest. Suppose the 15^th ranked student has scored 301 out of 400. This means that the minimum cut off mark for NTS for category “Social Science “for 2021 is 301.

Based on the above example it is evidentially clear that student with 301 or more marks in category “Social Science” in 2021 will be awarded NTS and in category “Tourism” students with marks of 306 and above will get NTS. Students with marks between 301 to 305 applying for Tourism will miss out on NTS while students with similar marks applying for Socials Science category will miss out on NTS.

Difference in the minimum cut off mark for each category annually is the only reason that some of your friends will get NTS with lower Year 13 total score than you.

No. You cannot request for change in program/major or minor for a category which is outside the category for which TSLB has made an offer to you for. For example, if you have been given an offer for the “Commerce” category, you cannot request for a change in program/major/minor which belongs in another category, such as Tourism, Education or Technology.

However, you can request for changes within the same category. For example, Change from Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting/Economics) to Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting/Finance).

No changes for NTS Overseas Scholarship will be approved.

Yes. You can apply for change in either the Program/Major/Minor or Institution under NTS Local Scholarship only once after the award confirmation letter has been issued using Form TSLB 04-02 provided you satisfy the following conditions:

i. Non-Medical Students and Medical Students not on annualized program

• These are students who are enrolled who have awarded NTS awards in categories other than “Medical and Health” or for programs within the “Medical and Health” which are assessed and graded on a term by term basis.
• Students falling in this category are eligible to apply for change in either the major/minor/program and institution provided the request is made in writing to TSLB before the second year of the award. That is, you can request for the change either after one term of studies or two terms of studies under the award.
• No request for change will be considered after more than 2 terms of studies under NTS.
• Any change in either the program/major/minor/institution must be in the same NTS priority category as the initial award.

ii. Medical Students on Annualized assessed programs?

• These are students who have been given scholarship in the “Medical and Health” category and the courses that they are enrolled in are not graded at the end of each academic term but at the end of the annual academic year. E.g. MBBS program.
• Students falling in this category are eligible to apply for change in either the major/minor/program and institution provided the request is made in writing to TSLB before they commence the third year of the award. That is, you can request for the change either after year 1 or year 2 studies under the award.
• No request for change will be considered after more than 2 years of studies under NTS.
• Any change in either the program/major/minor/institution must be in the same NTS priority category as the initial award

Strictly once only. Any application in excess of one prior approved application will be declined by TSLB.

This means that after the award confirmation letter has been issued, you can apply for either the program/major/minor/institution only once during the entire award duration.  In cases where you have been approved for a change in either the program, /major/minor or institution, you can no longer apply for any further changes. 

As an example, if you applied for and got the major approved once, you cannot further apply for any more changes to either the program/major/minor or institution.

• Full academic transcript of current program.
• Offer letter for new program/major/minor or institution.
• Cross Credit document for new program/major/minor or institution.
• Program structure for the new program/major(s)/minor or institution.
• Request letter stating the reasons for the change requested.

1. Tuition fees for all first attempt courses/units which are part of the TSLB sponsored program (TSLB will not pay tuition for any repeat courses, bridging courses, professional accreditation courses, or courses which are not necessary to complete the program and graduate).
2. General service/enrollment fees as billed by the Higher Education Institutions;
3. Accommodation and Meals (Hostel or Rent) - Maximum of $2,400 per Semester or $2,000 per Trimester. Should the hostel and meals fees charged by the Higher Education Institute exceed the approved rates as per the award confirmation letter, you will be required to pay for any difference privately.
4. Book Allowance − FJD $1,000 per annum.
5. Incidental Expenses - FJD $1,000 per annum.

1. Tuition fees for all first attempt courses/units which are part of the TSLB sponsored program (TSLB will not pay tuition for any repeat courses, bridging courses, professional accreditation courses, or courses which are not necessary to complete the program and graduate.
2. General service/enrollment fees as billed by the Higher Education Institutions.
3. Hostel and meals (If staying in hostel) will be paid directly to the Higher Education Institution as invoiced.
4. Living out Allowance (If staying out of hostel will be paid in the nominated Bank Account.                 
5. Meal Allowance if living staying in hostel without meal option will be paid in the nominated Bank Account as determined by TSLB.
6. Book Allowance will be paid in the nominated Bank Account as determined by TSLB
7. Establishment Allowance will be paid in the nominated Bank Account as determined by TSLB. This will be a one-off payment and paid at the commencement of the award.  
8. Excess Baggage Allowance  will be paid in the nominated Bank Account as determined by TSLB. This will be a one-off payment and paid at the end of the award.
9. 1 by return air fare-economy class.

All allowance payment is subject to the receipt of student’s enrollment report from their respective higher education institutions.

An enrollment report contains record of student’s enrollment/registration of courses/units for a particular academic term. It contains the course/unit codes that students are enrolled in and classifies the same as first attempt, second attempt, subsequent attempt and courses/units which are not part of the TSLB sponsored program.

Allowances will only be calculated and paid upon receipt of your enrollment reports. You can visit our website  www.tslb.com.fj and check under “Student Notices” for your enrollment reports as submitted by the higher education institutions. In case your name does not appear in the list and if you have already enrolled for the courses/units, you need to check with your institutions student services/academic office.

TSLB will pay the allowances progressively in two or more batches as enrollment reports are received. The first batch of allowances will be paid by the 4^th week of lectures.

It is in your interest to enroll for the courses/units at least one week before the commencement of lecture to get your allowances by week 1 of lectures. For all enrollments after Thursday a week before the lecture commences, allowances will be paid in week 4 of lectures.

• Repeat courses;
• Foundation/bridging courses which are not part of the student’s TSLB approved program; and
• Any courses which are not part of the TSLB approved program e.g. Free Courses offered by HEI’s (e.g UU100 A at USP), Professional Accreditation courses e.g FIA Courses).

1. Full Academic Transcript;
2. Program Audit Certificate;
3. Program Outline for the remaining courses/units (Year and Term in which these will be offered, and how you plan to complete); and
4. Letter explaining the reason(s) for not completing the program within the sponsored duration, along with any evidences such as medical certificates/letter from university.

1. He/She had enrolled for full academic load during the term for which extension had already been granted;
2. Have achieved a 100% pass rate during the initial extension period; and
3.  The term for which the second and final extension is sought is your graduating term meaning you will complete your studies in this second term of extension.

Whether or not any allowances will be approved during any period of extension will depend on the balance of any eligible allowances after the completion of the initial award duration.

As an example, for all NTS students on semester basis, the maximum payable allowance per term is $3400.00. In case a student is enrolled for a three-year program and the NTS confirmation letter states that the award is for 3 years, this means that the student is entitled to a maximum allowance of $20,400 ($3400/semester * 6 semesters) in three years.

So if the student has already been paid $20,400 in 3 years, then he/she may not be entitled to any further allowances but Tuition only. However, let’s say that in 3 years, the student was only paid $19,000 by TSLB, then allowance of $1,400.00 may be paid during the period of extension.

However, no new allowances will be approved during any period of extension.

1. Fails to meet the required GPA, which is 3.0 or it’s equivalence per academic term;
2. fails to maintain and take full academic load as per the enrollment/registration criteria of the Higher Education Institute of your choice for each academic term within the duration of the program,
3. Fails to meet the minimum attendance required by the Higher Education Institutions for the sponsored program;
4. Is academically suspended/terminated by the Higher Education Institute;
5. Abandons his/her studies;
6. Is deregistered for any reason including disciplinary action instituted by the Higher Education Institute;
7. Changes his/her programme/majors/minor/institution without the prior written approval of TSLB;
8. Is convicted for any offence during the duration of the award;
9. Provides false and misleading information to TSLB with the objective of gaining financial advantages;
10. Fails to follow TSLB’s grievance resolution mechanism in airing any concerns/complaints or grievances;
11. Engages in any conduct during the period of sponsorship that brings disrepute to TSLB or the Fijian Government; and
12. Is required to repeat consecutively a term/years’ work in order to complete your programme.

1. If you applied for and were granted special consideration (or if other extenuating circumstances apply), and this was approved by TSLB, no action will be taken and you will receive your NTS payment as per usual or;
2. You will be notified in writing by TSLB that your performance is under review and that you are on probation. You will be paid whilst you are on probation or;
3. Should you meet the required minimum pass rate in the term you are on probation, the probation status will be removed in the following term and you will be paid.
4. Should you fail to meet the required minimum pass rate in the term on probation, the scheme will be suspended for the following term. You will not receive payments while on suspension.
5. Should you meet the required minimum pass rate in the term on suspension, the scheme will be reinstated for the following term and payments will resume? No retrospective payments will be made for the period of suspension.
6. Should you fail to meet the required minimum pass rate in the term on suspension, the scheme will be terminated and no further payments may be made.

1. Duly completed form IRS458 available on www.tslb.com.fj or www.frcs.org.fj.
2. Request letter addressed to CEO of FRCS.
3. Letter from TSLB to confirm outstanding loan or bond service amount.
4. Guarantee of Bond (Overseas Travel) Form – TSLB 11.
5. Guarantor’s TIN letters or photocopy of FRCS/FNPF Joint Card.
6. Guarantor’s recent pay slip or Bank Statements
7. For students in employment, a letter from the employer must be submitted.
8. Copy of the return air ticket with the travel itinerary.
9. Copy of the Passport.
10. Visa details.
11. The student may be required to pay a certain percentage of the dues to the Fijian government.
12. FRCS reserves the right to impose any other conditions.

Application opening and closing date will be published in the local media, TSLB website and official social media after the budget announcement each year. This will normally be in July of each year.

Application closing date will strictly be 31 December of each year. TSLB will not receive or consider any late application for NTS in any circumstances.

1. Scan and get all the required documents ready before starting the process of applying online in the pdf, png, or jpg format.
2. Visit www.tslb.com.fj and register for TSLB online application. Applicants cannot apply online unless registered first.
3. Once registered fill the appropriate information.
4. Upload all the required documents.
5. Submit the online application.
6. You do not need to fill another TELS application form separately as all unsuccessful applications for NTS will be considered for TELS if they successfully passed Y13 or equivalent foundation studies. You need to indicate your TELS Choices and allowance preference in the required section of the NTS application.

Yes: You can and must to apply before 31^st December each year even if you do not have Year 13 results or the offer letter from the institution or both. TSLB online application system is designed in such a way that you can apply with these essential documents and upload the same even after the closing date.

So you need to ensure that you have applied and completed all aspects of the application, except Year 13 results and offer letters before the application closing date.

Your application will only be processed after you have uploaded the Year 13 results and offer letter from the institutions. However, you will not miss out on the award if you have met the qualifying criteria and uploaded these 2 essential documents before the last day of application processing.

You need to log into TSLB website www.tslb.com.fj for the NTS application processing opening and closing date for each year.

No: You must never attach your provisional offer letter with your TSLB application. In case you do this, your offer letter will be removed, your application moved to incomplete state or even totally rejected by TSLB.

You will be notified on the outcome of your application in January of the new year. The notification will be sent to the email addressed that you used to register and apply for the scholarship.

You must also login into your TSLB account on TSLB website www.tslb.com.fj and check on your application status on your home/landing page. In case your application was successful, your application status will change from “Processing” to “Approved” and you will be given the option to download your “NTS Offer Letter” and “Bond Form”.

In case you were not successful with the application, your application status will change Processing” to “Rejected” and you will notice that a “TELS” application will be created for you on your home/landing page.

In case your application for NTS was not successful, your application will automatically have pushed to TELS and assessed and processed for TELS.

What you need to do after your NTS application has been declined by TSLB is to visit your landing and check that your TELS application status is reading as “Processing”. In case it is showing as “Incomplete”, you need to complete the missing details and documents so that your application can be processed by TSLB staff.

1. Offer letter- read and initial all pages on the bottom right hand corner.  Then enter your details and sign off on the last page of the letter and get the same witnessed and Scan and save the whole document (all pages).
2. Bond Form – fill and sign only pages and 1 and 3 only if you are a NTS Local Scholarship recipient. Do not fill anything on Schedules 1 and 2 of you are a NTS Local Scholarship recipient.

You must sign and scan every pages of the bond form and offer letter and upload on your landing/home page on TSLB website www.tslb.com.fj within 7 days from the date shown on your offer letter.

In case you fail to sign and upload the bond form and offer within 7 days from the date of offer, your application will be rejected and moved to TELS.

1. TSLB issues the successful applicants provisional offer letter and bond form;
2. Successful applicants to complete the bond form and offer letter, sign the required pages , scan the entire documents, upload on their landing/home page on TSLB website www.tslb.com.fj
3. TSLB staff assess the bond form and offer letter.
4. TSLB issue the award confirmation letter;
5. TSLB sends the tagging list (list of NTS sponsored students to the institutions);
6. Higher Education Institutions send the enrollment report to TSLB;
7. Based on the enrollment report received, TSLB staff process and pay your allowances;
8. Higher Education Institutions bill TSLB for your tuition, hostel and general service fees;
9. TSLB processes and pays your tuition, hostel and general service fees.

1. Program Completion Letter from the Higher Education Institution; and
2. Complete Academic Transcript and Certificate upon Graduation.

You must immediately contact TSLB Student Counsellor on email address counselor@tslb.com.fj to arrange for an appointment to meet and discuss your issue . This will help TSLB understand your issue and suggest ways to overcome the same.

Remember leaving it too late or making an attempt to explain your reason(s) for poor academic performance after the final examinations will not help you as the same will not be considered by TSLB.

TSLB prefers early intervention on matters affecting a student’s welfare and academic performance and as such you must contact TSLB Student Counsellor immediately for any issue affecting your academic performance.

Yes. You may work part-time while being on NTS Scholarship upon prior written approval from TSLB. However, you cannot decrease your academic load (that is enroll for fewer courses/units) while working on a part-time basis. Also engaging in employment should not affect your academic performance as this may lead to direct termination of your employment.

You must seek prior written approval from TSLB before engaging in any part-time employment during any academic term while under NTS. You must submit a letter of request to the Section Head Scholarships on scholarships@tslb.com.fj . In the letter of request, you must include the place of employment, days and hours of employment and the duration of employment.

You can engage in Part-Time employment during your Semester breaks without any written approval from TSLB.

No full time employment can be accepted while on NTS Scholarship.

1. Medical ground- supported by medical report (not sick sheets for few days only) by a registered medical practitioner;
2. Military/Security deployment;
3. National duties;
4. Death in immediate family (spouse, children, parents living with the students, siblings only); or
5. any other reason(s) as deemed appropriate to TSLB.

1. Suspension/Academic Exclusion- your NTS also gets suspended by TSLB without notice to you. During the period of suspension, you cannot change your program/major/minor or institution nor can you apply for TELS. However, if the suspension exceeds one year, then your NTS will be terminated by TSLB.
2. Termination- termination by institution will result in automatic termination of your NTS by TSLB without any notice. You cannot apply for change your program/major/minor or institution once your award is terminated. Upon termination, recoveries action by FRCS will commence. You cannot apply for TELS or any other Schemes administered by TSLB unless you have full paid off your debt under NTS and produce a bond clearance letter from FRCS.

1. Letter from the Course Coordinator/HEI which clearly highlights the academic progress till the point of planned withdrawal. The letter must include the course work marks/grades;
2. Medical Report indicating that the awardee is not able to continue with the studies if the planned withdrawal is on medical grounds; and
3. Any additional documents which TSLB may request on a case by case basis.

1. Changes in the number of courses/units in the enrollment report largely attributed to students either adding or dropping courses after the receipt on initial enrollment reports;
2. Incorrect classification of courses/units in the enrollment in terms of first attempt courses, eligible repeat courses, subsequent repeat courses etc.;
3. Incorrect courses being tagged by HEI’s in contradiction to TSLB’s terms and conditions of tagging;
4. Change in program/major/minor/institution by students or HEI’s without prior written approval from TSLB.

1. For Tuition, the institution will immediately be asked un-tag the student from the ineligible course(s)/unit(s) and if any fees have already been paid to be reimbursed to TSLB and the student be billed privately for such course(s)/unit(s).
2. For allowances, instructions will be issued to the bank to put a hold to the allowances not yet withdrawn and only on TSLB’s instruction the funds to be released. Students will immediately be contacted to reimburse the excess allowance to TSLB by depositing the same in the official TSLB Scheme account. TSLB may also contact the institution and request that the students account be placed on TSLB hold.
3. Where the excess allowance payment cannot be recovered in a particular term, the recoveries will be initiated in the following academic term. That is any unrecovered excess allowances from the previous term will be deducted from the following term(s) allowances unless the full amount is recovered.
4. In case any excess payment cannot be recovered and the student has completed his/her studies, all excess payment will be converted as TELS and recovered under the normal TELS recoveries process and criteria.

1. All new applications MUST be made using the TSLB Online Application Portal available on www.tslb.com.fj. Full information about the schemes, the eligibility criteria and required documents are available on our website. For any queries on the online application email on it@tslb.com.fj.
2. For all queries on allowances, tuition, tagging and any other general enquiries, students must use the TSLB Online Chat Services on TSLB website www.tslb.com.fj from Mondays to Fridays from 8. 00a.m to 5.00p.m.
3. All other general queries and enquiries after 5. 00p.m from Mondays to Fridays and in the week ends, including Public Holidays, students/all other Fijians must email on enquiries@tslb.com.fj and we will respond on the next working day.
4. For all account statements, email on accounts@tslb.com.fj