Passed the Grade 5 Scholarship? Every type of benefit and the order to check them

Scholarship pass gifts come from four different places. After a child passes the Grade 5 Scholarship, families in past years have checked a government bursary, a Grade 6 school place, a scholarship bank gift, and local awards. This guide says what each one usually looks like, who it is for, which documents to take, and how to verify it. It names no bank and no company. It quotes no amount and no date. Every figure lives on the official notice for that year.

The order to check them

Do them in this order. The first two can expire. A bank gift can wait until you have read the terms. A message from a stranger can wait forever.

1. Confirm the official result on doenets.lk. That is the Department of Examinations site. Have the index number ready. The result on that site is the one a school, a bank, and a divisional secretariat can check against. A screenshot in a chat is not the result.
2. Government bursary and Grade 6 placement. Ask the school, and read the Ministry of Education circular, for the monthly allowance and for a popular-school place. These are the steps with a deadline. The deadline is on the circular and on the school notice board.
3. Province, local authority, divisional secretariat. Some areas announce an award for children who passed. The notice, when there is one, is at that office or on the school notice board.
4. State and private banks. Compare the scholarship bank gift in person. Opening or holding a savings account for the child, and showing the results sheet, is what these offers have usually required. Read what is locked before anyone signs.
5. Other organisations, last. Insurance companies, private firms, welfare societies, alumni associations, religious and community organisations, ceremonies held by local politicians, and the school past-pupil association. A real one is announced by the organisation or on the school notice board.

Government: the bursary, and a Grade 6 place

The bursary and the Grade 6 place both start at the school. Each one has its own rule. The bursary is a monthly allowance for eligible students under the income criterion. The Grade 6 place is a school, decided on marks. Do both while the circular is still open.

The Ministry of Education bursary

• What it usually looks like. A monthly allowance under a Ministry of Education scheme. In past years families have applied through the school, after the official result, and the allowance has been paid for the period the circular states.
• Who is eligible. Students who passed, and whose family income is under the income criterion the Ministry publishes for that year. A pass on its own does not decide it.
• Documents. The results sheet or the index number, the birth certificate, and a bank account when the circular says the allowance is paid into one. The school will say if that year's circular also asks for an income declaration.
• How to verify. The school office, and the circular on the official website of the Ministry of Education (moe.gov.lk). doenets.lk confirms the result. It does not run the bursary. The school copy of the circular and the website copy should say the same thing, including the deadline.

Grade 6 in a popular school

• What it usually looks like. A place in a popular school for Grade 6, based on marks. In past years the Ministry has published a cutoff and an application window, and the school has collected the forms.
• Who is eligible. Children whose marks meet the cutoff the Ministry publishes for that year. The pass mark and that cutoff are different lines. The circular states which line applies, and to which schools.
• Documents. The results sheet or the index number, and the birth certificate. This step is a school place, so a bank account is not what the form is for. Bring one only if the circular asks.
• How to verify. The school notice board, and the same Ministry circular on moe.gov.lk. A list of schools, or a cutoff, forwarded in a message is not the circular.

Provincial, local, and divisional awards

• What it usually looks like. In past years some provincial councils, local authorities, and divisional secretariats have given a certificate, a gift, or a one-off award to children from that area who passed, often at a small ceremony.
• Who is eligible. Usually a child who passed and who lives in that province, that local area, or that division. There is no national list. Plenty of areas announce nothing in a given year. No notice means there is nothing to collect here.
• Documents. The results sheet or the index number, and the birth certificate. Take a bank account as well when the award is money rather than a certificate.
• How to verify. The divisional secretariat, the local authority, and the school notice board. Staff at the school have usually heard if a real ceremony is on.

Banks: the scholarship bank gift

This is the offer people forward most, and the one with the most conditions. Treat it as a product you can compare, after the school deadlines are in hand.

• What it usually looks like. A gift, or a deposit into a savings account for the child, from a state bank or a private bank. In past years the usual requirement has been that the child opens an account, or already holds one, and that a parent shows the results sheet.
• Who is eligible. A child who passed, and who meets the account rule that bank has published for that offer. Some offers are only for a new account. The rule is on the offer, not on this page.
• Documents. The results sheet or the index number, the birth certificate, and a bank account for the child, or the papers the branch wants in order to open one.
• How to verify. The branch, in person, or the official website of that bank, opened by you and not through a link in a chat. Compare two banks. Ask what is locked, and what happens if the account is closed. A locked deposit is a condition: the money stays until the terms say it can move. Sign after that answer, not before.

Other organisations

• What it usually looks like. In past years, insurance companies, private firms, welfare societies, alumni associations, religious and community organisations, local politicians, and school past-pupil associations have held a ceremony or given a gift to children who passed. The gift might be a certificate, a savings contribution, or something handed over at the event.
• Who is eligible. Whoever that announcement names. Often one school, one town, one congregation, or the children of one firm's staff. It is local. It is optional. It is not an entitlement that every passer has.
• Documents. The announcement names which of the usual three to bring: the results sheet or the index number, the birth certificate, and a bank account when money is involved.
• How to verify. The school notice board, a teacher, or a notice the organisation itself published. Confirm the event before you go, and before you hand documents to anyone. A personal chat is not that notice.

Beware of offers that ask for a fee or an OTP

Fake scholarship pass gifts travel on WhatsApp and Facebook. The message offers a bank gift, an extra payment, or a "release" of the bursary. Then it asks for a fee, or for personal data: photos of the birth certificate, identity documents, the index number sent into a private chat, or bank details.

Never share an OTP. A one-time password is how a bank or a phone account checks that you are you. A genuine bursary, a Grade 6 placement, and a gift handled at a branch do not ask for one, and they do not ask you to pay a fee to receive the money. If a message surprised you, stop. Check the result on doenets.lk, the deadlines on the school notice board, and any bank offer at the branch, on a number you take from the bank's own website.

If the exam is still ahead

This page is for a result that is already out. A child sitting the Grade 5 Scholarship next year can practise free at /play.

One question, for that child

Here is one real question, with the answer and the reason.

Common questions