The Irish Council for International Students (ICOS) received complaints from more than 30 prospective worldwide students, a few of whom have been waiting approximately a year to receive refunds for program charges, amounting to some EUR60,000. It remains uncertain which schools the trainees had actually been preparing to participate in.
On the other hand, the Irish peak body for ELT suppliers has been at pains to stress that the “huge bulk” of English language schools in the nation support the proper requirements and procedure refunds in a prompt way.
Under the Department of Justice’s guidelines, English language schools in Ireland are required to reimburse course fees within 20 days of a visa rejection.
Individuals from non-EEA nations are required to pay course costs in advance before they can make an application for an Irish research study visa.
The majority of the potential students who contacted ICOS are from establishing nations, consisting of Cambodia and Colombia, it stated. The program fees might be worth in between 6 to 12 months of their annual income.
While ICOS stated it is aware of 30 trainees owed a combined overall of more than EUR60,000 in unsettled refunds, it believes the true scale of the issue is most likely to be significantly higher.
Brian Hearne, ICOS’ policy and interactions supervisor, said: “It is unacceptable that, following a visa refusal, potential worldwide trainees are left waiting months, and sometimes nearly a year, for refunds that need to be provided within 20 days. This not just triggers monetary challenge, but likewise damages Ireland’s track record as a fair and inviting place to study.”
He added that international students must be “treated relatively and safeguarded from the minute they make a payment to an education service provider”.
Hearn stated that there should be “robust government-led oversight” to ensure this happens, and prompted the Department of Justice to investigate the cases it has actually raised.
Ireland’s credibility as an inviting destination depends upon treating potential students with fairness and openness from the extremely first interaction English Education Ireland
For its part, English Education Ireland revealed its concern over these cases, saying that the schools in concern are not members of the organisation, which “this situation is not representative of the requirements maintained by our members”.
“The huge majority of companies in this sector run to high requirements, hold trainee costs properly, and process refunds immediately,” it added. “Ireland’s track record as a welcoming location depends on dealing with prospective students with fairness and transparency from the really first interaction.
It stated that it anticipated the full application of TrustEd Ireland– a government-backed quality marker for education suppliers in Ireland.
“TrustEd has a statutory footing which is to be welcomed. However concerns remain as to how compliance will be monitored and policed once TrustEd is completely established,” it stated “Statutory powers are just meaningful if they are utilized. We would urge Federal government to set out clearly how enforcement will run under the new program before the ILEP is wound down.”
The ILEP (Interim List of Qualified Programs) is the Department of Justice’s existing regulatory framework governing English language schools that hire non-EEA students. Schools need to be listed on it to accept international students needing study visas.
TrustEd types part of a broader legislative framework created to protect international students, and will eventually replace ILEP– implying service providers without the mark will no longer be able to recruit non-EU/EEA/Swiss students needing study visas.
Nevertheless, ICOS stated it understood that some of the schools who had stopped working to pay refunds to afflicted students might remain in the process of applying to TrustEd Ireland, although it stated it might not verify this.
Ireland has actually long been a center for the ELT sector– with trainees from all over the world gathering to the country, now the biggest English-speaking nation in the EU, to find out English and immerse themselves in Ireland’s abundant culture.
The Irish global education market is flourishing, with a recent rise in interest from Indian and US trainees helping to drive record enrolments in the 2024/25 scholastic year.