Our Student Support team is committed to providing you with assistance during your time in Ireland with ICOT. You will be assisted from the moment you leave your country until the moment you have your certificate in hand, including guidance throughout the visa application process, arranging the necessary documents, and answering any questions that you might have.
Click below to learn more about how we can help you with everything you need.
ICOT College offers our students arriving in Ireland for the first time the option of booking a transfer from the airport to your accommodation. Upon arrival, a member of the ICOT team will lead you from the airport to your accommodation safely and comfortably.
Induction day is an essential day for new students. On this day, our academic management and student support teams will walk you through our internal procedures and explain the departments and the roles they play in supporting you during your time with us in Ireland.
On induction day you will also learn about our wide range of events, extra activities and everything that you will need to know to take your first steps on this new adventure.
Our aim is to make you feel at home in Ireland. Your accommodation is an extremely important part of your whole experience. The different locations where we accommodate students are all close to public transport, shopping centres, supermarkets and banks. With ICOT College you can rest assured that we will provide you with quality accommodation that best suits your needs.
Host Family There is nothing like being exposed to natural language in real situations to help you develop your English. If you choose to stay with a host family, you will have an opportunity to hear and to use English in real social situations every day and be exposed to examples of natural English that you will not be exposed to in the classroom setting. You will pick up expressions, slang, and idiomatic language that you will not find in any course book and learn the nuances of language that can only be learned from frequent, authentic interactions with native speakers.
Student Accommodation One of the best things about student accommodation is the social opportunities that this living arrangement gives you and the friendships you will build. While you will certainly form lasting friendships with your classmates, you will always form stronger bonds with those you live with as you share meals and discuss the day’s classes in your student accommodation.
Hostels Hostels offer high-quality accommodation at a low price. The ICOT College partner hostels are in the heart of Dublin City. The City Centre and the Temple Bar area, famous for the lively pubs, restaurants and cultural events, are within an easy walking distance of our hostels.
Alternative Accommodation There are many rental properties available in the areas surrounding the ICOT College units. There are a number of useful websites you can use to look for alternative accommodation. Below is a list of the best ones:
DAFT: www.daft.ie
RENT: www.rent.ie
MY HOME: www.myhome.ie
PROPERTY: www.property.ie
LET: www.let.ie
You can also search for accommodation in advertisements in shops, college notice boards and Facebook Groups, which are very efficient. You may also find available accommodation through word of mouth.
Some landlords or agents may ask you for a holding deposit when you decide to take the accommodation. This is a sum of money you pay to hold the property before you sign the lease and enter into a contract with the landlord. You should always get a written receipt for a holding deposit. Holding deposits are often not refundable if you don’t take up the accommodation.
You will be asked for a security deposit before moving into the accommodation. The landlord holds this deposit as security to cover any rent arrears, bills owing or damage beyond normal wear and tear at the end of the tenancy.
You cannot be forced to make upfront payments of more than 2 month’s rent. This includes a deposit of a month’s rent and one month’s rent in advance.
Students in student-specific tenancies can opt-out of this restriction and pay a larger upfront payment if they want.
You should get a receipt for any deposit you pay. You may lose your deposit if:
You leave without giving proper notice or leave before the end of a fixed-term lease
You cause damage to the accommodation.
You leave with bills or rent unpaid.
Heath Insurance is a requirement of the study visa for non-EU students to take out private health insurance. For non-EU students who do not have current Health Insurance arrangements in place, ICOT will arrange student medical cover with Academy Plus. These policies cover emergency medical expenses, emergency travel and repatriation expenses, and are compliant with the applicable visa regulations.
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ICOT College, in partnership with Academy Plus, provide Learner Protection in line with ILEP requirements, which offers students peace of mind concerning fee security and guaranteed course sustainability. Students’ total fees are protected under this scheme in situations where courses lose their external accreditation or in the event of organisational insolvency. Under the learner protection policy students will be placed into a similar course at an alternative centre or refund a student’s fees in cases where no similar course is available.
ICOT College provides all students with learner protection insurance and all students receive a certificate ensuring the insurance is in place upon the commencement of their course.
All enrolled ICOT College students can download our free app which makes communicating with us and accessing important information as easy a pressing a button! You can check your attendance from anywhere, request letters, get more information about our courses, find out about important dates and much more.
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If you are interested in finding a job, or in making yourself more employable, our Career Advisor Charles Cordeiro can help you Charles has 10 years of experience in business management in Ireland, and he is responsible for training and recruitment at ICOT. He holds a major award in business management and an honours degree in Pharmaceutical Business Operations from Griffith College Dublin. He will help you to prepare your CV and also help you to practice for your job interview. That is a unique opportunity to improve your chances of finding employment while you are here in Ireland!
ICOT College has a partnership with Skill Ireland Training, providing courses like Manual Handling, Food Safety Training and over 20+ Courses. Skill Ireland aims to design and/or provide courses in Portuguese, Spanish and/or English, online and live-streaming, with a methodology thus the participant can understand the content clearly and put into practice in the workplace the knowledge gained. Certificates are issued in English following the guidelines and regulations in Ireland.
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We have different language classes, conversation classes, CV support and much more from Monday to Friday usually after the afternoon classes.
At ICOT College we understand that our international students often get frustrated by the added expense of transfer fees when paying their tuition and accommodation payments. To help our students, we have teamed up with some companies to help you pay your tuition fees without wasting precious funds on additional charges:
Global Payments Solution — We create flexible, integrated payment experiences that address your unique challenges. Helping organizations get paid and customers pay with ease from anywhere in the world. Local payment options. Improved collection. Uncompromising experience. Find more about
Pay in your local currency or EURO €Avoid bank fees and extra chargesExchange rate guarantee when making a bank transfer - if you find a better rate within two hours, Flywire will match itTrack your payment in real-time and receive email and text alerts each step of the way, including a confirmation your payment has been securely delivered to ICOT24/7 multilingual customer support via email, phone or live chat.Its acept VISA, Master Card, PayPal, JCB, UnionPay, AliPay, Diners Club, and Trustly
International students with an overseas bank account or card can pay their fees and deposits through PaytoStudy in their own currency with no currency conversion fees and beneficial exchange rates. As payments are made locally to ICOT College, wire and receiver fees usually imposed by banks are eliminated. Payments are processed within 48 hours and upon receipt of payment, the school begins the student enrolment process. Find more about
A Safer payment processNo international sender/receiver feesGreat exchange rates24-hour customer service from PaytoStudy24-hour online tracking of paymentsBulk payment options
PayPal is the faster, more secure way to pay online. It lets you pay for your favorite things at millions of online stores in the U.S. and across 203 global markets—all without the hassle of converting currency. So it’s just as easy to know how much you’re spending as it is to spend it. It’s free to sign up for a PayPal account and it’s safe to use: whether you are paying bills, sending money or making a purchase, PayPal works hard to keep your financial information secure. Find more about
SumUp‘s proprietary, end-to-end payments platform is the first fully-certified EMV mPOS system in the world to cover the entire payment process: card terminals, Android and iOS mobile apps, a payment processing platform and risk and anti-fraud solutions. Find more about
If you have a WeChat account you can use WeChat Pay to send fast mobile payments to other WeChat users, and participating merchants¹. It's important to note that you can only send money to people who either already have a WeChat account, or who could set one up in order to access the funds.Find more about
Stripe guarantee a secure payment with 135+ currencies and dozens of payment methods. Businesses of every size — from new startups to public companies — use Stripe to make payments and manage their businesses online.Find more about
The Student Leap Card is the national student travel card. It allows all full-time students in second and third-level education, including further education and training to avail of discounted student fares on Go-Ahead Ireland, Dublin Bus, Luas, Bus Éireann, DART and Irish Rail (Iarnród Éireann) as well as other private transport operators across the Republic of Ireland. The card is available from leapcard.ie.
Apply online and collect at agent
You can apply for your new Student Leap Card online. (Link: www.leapcard.ie)
Note: You will still have to attend an official SLC Agent and show a valid college ID to get your card.
Register your card on leapcard.ie
All Student Leap Cards should be registered with leapcard.ie 24 hours after you purchase your card. The benefits of Registering your TFI Student Leap Card:
Registering your card protects your travel credit if it’s lost or stolen.
You can view your transaction history online.
You can add more TFI Leap Cards to your account. Register your student leap card here: www.leapcard.ie/CardRegistration
The first step is going to www.leapcard.ie/CardPurchase and click on “Student” in the are Card Type.
*Only buy your TFI Leap Card from authorised vendors.
With the Stamp 2 visa, students are allowed to work up to 40 hours per week during the months of June, July, August and September and between 15th December and January 15th.
In the rest of the year, the maximum hours of work allowed are 20 hrs per week.
PPS is your Personal Public Service Number. It is a unique reference number that helps you access social welfare benefits, public services and information in Ireland.
Before you can be allocated a PPS number, you must show that you need one. For example, if you are taking up employment, you need a PPS number to register with the Revenue Commissioners. However, looking for work is not a transaction with a specified body and employers should NOT look for your PPS number when recruiting. An employer should only seek a PPS number if you are actually taking up employment with the organization.
A PPS Number is always 7 numbers followed by either one or 2 letters. If you do not know your PPS number, contact your Intreo Centre or local Social Welfare Branch Office and staff there can find your number for you.
You will be asked to produce documentary evidence of identity and address in Ireland. Different documentary evidence will be required, depending on your nationality. A complete list of documents required as evidence of your identity is available.
Evidence of your address
You need to show evidence of your address. You can use any of the following documents to do this (the document must show your name and address and not be older than 3 months):
A household utility bill
An official letter/document
A financial statement
Property lease or tenancy agreement
Confirmation of address by a third party such as a hotel/hostel administrator or manager, school principal/administrator or accommodation/property owner*.
*If you are staying with friends or relatives, an original household bill plus a note from the bill holder confirming your residency at the bill address is acceptable. This note can be written on the bill itself.