Attendance Policy 

If you are on a student visa, you need to attend a minimum of 85% of your lessons. This is important because:

• It helps you focus fully on your English studies
• It ensures that you do not have visa problems with the Irish Department of Justice
• It allows you to renew your visa if you want to continue your studies in Ireland

Your attendance is recorded by your teacher every day in class and this information is inputted to your student file on the school database.

Attendance officers

Nicole Hanna, Niamh Kelly and Laura Gaona Valladares are responsible for attendance-related matters.

Please do not approach your teachers for any queries related to your attendance.

All attendance-related matters must go directly through the attendance officers named above. Niamh Kelly and Laura Gaona Valladares can be contacted at attendance@ihdublin.com.

Checking your attendance

If you wish to check your attendance at any time, please email attendance@ihdublin.com your name and your student number so that we can access your record.

Punctuality

If you enter your class after 15 minutes, you will be marked absent. This policy is reflective of the Department of Justice regulations, as per below;

“Attendance by students is defined as attending the full designated tuition hours – i.e. arriving more than 15  minutes late, or leaving before the class has concluded, means the student is marked absent for the class/class segments.” (Department of Justice Immigration Service Delivery, Section 2:5)

Morning Schedule: Entry after 9:15 will be considered absent. Entry for the second class after 11:30 will be considered absent.

Afternoon Schedule: Entry after 14:00 will be considered absent. Entry for the second class after 15:30 will be considered absent.

If you leave class early or are outside of your class for more than 15 minutes, you will be marked absent for that class segment. This is in accordance with the Department of Justice Regulations outlined above. Leaving class for work or any other reason outside of medical illness or in case of emergency will not be permitted.

Scheduled Holidays

On enrolment, International House Dublin will provide you with a timetable clearly identifying the daily and weekly tuition times with dates.

Before you register with GNIB/ INIS, you must request a GNIB Letter from the school, which will state the dates you will take your vacation and your programme schedule. The programme schedule, including holiday periods, must be presented by the student to the Immigration Officer for inspection during the student’s registration.

1. a) Holiday periods must be outlined in advance.
2. b) The programme timetable must be set out in such a way that holiday periods cannot at any point

exceed 1/3 of the total weeks elapsed

1. c) Holidays may not be scheduled within the first 8 weeks of your course (front loading of holidays will not be permitted).

Students should choose their holiday when requesting their GNIB Letter and before registering with GNIB. Holidays registered with GNIB can’t be changed.

No unscheduled breaks will be permissible except in documented cases of illness or close family bereavement.

Requests for changes after the registration will be evaluated.

To initiate your request for a change, we kindly ask you to create a support ticket via our student request portal at https://ihdublin.com/current-students/student-requests/. After providing the necessary details and explaining your concern, a member of our team will be available to assist you.

The outcome of your change request, whether approved or denied, will be communicated to you via email, with careful consideration of your individual circumstances.

Absenteeism

We understand that sometimes students have problems and are unable to attend class. However, if you do not have a good reason for your absence, this will affect your attendance and will cause problems for your visa.

There are certain legitimate reasons for absence, including:

1. Illness

If you are ill, we understand that you can’t come to class. On the first day that you are ill, you must email attendance@ihdublin.com. 

Attendance will not be granted without a valid doctor’s certificate in English outlining the dates you were unable to attend school due to illness. Prescriptions for medication are not considered acceptable medical certificates, and will not be accepted to excuse your absence. If you email a doctor’s certificate in English that states the dates you were unable to attend class to attendance@ihdublin.com your attendance will not be affected. You must email your medical certificate the first week you return to class.

Medical certificates that were not submitted within 7 days upon return to class, and that are submitted at a later date, will not be accepted.

2. Bereavement

Close family member 

In the sad event of the death of a close family member, we understand that you will not be able to attend school. Please mail attendance@ihdublin.com to inform us of your bereavement.

In the case of an immediate family member’s death ( a spouse, a parent, a child, a person in a relationship of domestic dependence including same-sex partners, brother or sister, a person who acted in loco parentis or who was a guardian) 5 days’ bereavement leave will be allowed. If a student needs to travel to their country of origin in the circumstance of an immediate family member’s death, bereavement leave of up to 10 days’ leave will be allowed. Applications for bereavement leave will not be considered without supporting evidence such as flight tickets and death certificates.

Extended family member

In the event of an extended family member’s death (a grandparent, a parent-in-law, a spouse-in-law) 3 day’s leave will be allowed.

No leave is allowed in any other circumstances.

Problems with your attendance

If you can’t provide a legitimate reason for your absence, then you will be marked absent from your lesson and your attendance level will reduce. Illness and close family bereavement are the only unscheduled breaks allowed by the Irish Department of Justice.

Important

• Requests must be made by the student in question and not by a third party
• Requests made to staff members other than the student welfare officers will not be considered
• You must contact the Attendance Officers at attendance@ihdublin.com
• Requests made by social media or by any other means will not be considered.

Please note that it is ONLY in these circumstances that your attendance will not be affected. If you do not provide a legitimate reason for your absence, the steps below will be followed

Warnings

Every week 

If your attendance is less than 50% in any one week, you will receive an informal warning from the

Attendance Officer.

First warning 

Immediately after week 3 of your course If your attendance is less than 85% immediately following the third week of your course, you will receive an informal warning notifying you of this, so that you may work on improving your attendance and meet the required final minimum attendance of 85%.

Second warning 

Immediately after week 6 of your course If you have less than 85% attendance immediately after the first 6 weeks of your course, you will receive a written warning to inform you of your current attendance percentage and to advise you of the requirement to attend 85% of your course.

Third warning 

Immediately after week 10 of your course If you have less than 85% attendance immediately after week 10 of your course, you will receive a written warning to inform you of your current attendance percentage, and projected final attendance and to advise you of the requirement to attend 85% of your course. In addition to this GNIB/ INIS will be informed of your attendance percentage.

At any time 

At any time, if your projected final attendance is less than 85%, GNIB/ INIS will be informed of your attendance issues and the expulsion process will be initiated.

Expulsion process 

This may be initiated at any point during your course in the situation where your projected final

attendance is less than 85%.

1. 1. Your projected attendance is calculated to be less than 85%

GNIB/ INIS is informed

You are informed by e-mail that you are in danger of being expelled

2. You must respond formally, by e-mail to attendance@ihdublin.com within 10 working days of

receiving this email

In your e-mail, please include the following:

• Information about any exceptional circumstances which has affected your attendance.
• Attach documents such as doctor’s certificates/ reports.
• The reasons why you believe you should not be expelled

If you wish to discuss your case in person, you may request a meeting with the Attendance Officers.

3. The final decision to expel you or not will be at the discretion of International House Dublin

Director, Mr Padraig Hourigan (padraig@ihdublin.com). This decision will be issued in writing, by email, in week 4 of the

expulsion process.

If you are expelled from International House Dublin you must stop attending classes immediately.

If you submit a formal appeal, you may continue to attend classes.

If you accept the reason for expulsion and agree to leave the school, your expulsion is reported to

GNIB/ INIS. You will not receive a certificate for your course of study.

No refund of fees, used or unused, will be issued to you.

Appeals 

If you do not accept the reason for your expulsion and do not agree to leave the school, you may appeal the school’s decision to expel you.

Appeals must be made in writing to the Chairman of International House Dublin, Mr Donagh Barry. The final decision to expel or not will rest with Mr Barry (donaghbarry@outlook.com).

Successful appeals

If your appeal is successful, you may continue to attend your classes.

Unsuccessful appeals 

As part of the expulsion process, your expulsion is reported to GNIB/INIS.

• You will not receive a certificate for your course of study.
• No refund of fees, used or unused, will be issued.
• No further appeals will be considered