Students starting or returning to college for the upcoming academic year are facing a college experience like no other. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the CAO offers, college start dates, lectures and so many other aspects of student life. It can be hard to keep track of all the changes, so the aim of this blog is to keep all the important bits in one place!

New guidelines were recently published by the Irish Universities Association with the goal of ensuring student’s safety on campus. The recommendations include the creation of a one-way system or marked lanes in buildings, the capping of lectures at 50 people and the wearing of masks where physical distancing isn’t possible. For more info on your individual college, keep on reading below!

Trinity College Dublin

Key Dates: First year students will return on Monday, October 5th while existing students will return on Monday, September 28th.

Postgraduate, Undergraduate Visiting and Erasmus Orientation will take place from September 21st while Undergraduate Orientation for new first years will take place from September 28th.

Semester 1 will follow a hybrid model which combines online and face to face elements. A decision on the second semester will be taken closer to the time while it was recently announced that face coverings will be mandatory in the library.

UCD

Key Dates: First year students will return on Monday, September 28th while existing students will return on Monday, September 21st.

Freshers' Week is being pushed back a week to September 28th. While Orientation and Freshers’ Week will look a lot different, the college is ‘’hoping to deliver a small on-campus program to all incoming students’’.

International students who are required to self-isolate for fourteen days when they arrive into Ireland, can be accommodated in campus residences before the start of the trimester.

TU Dublin

Key Dates: First year students will return on Monday, October 5th while existing students will return on Monday, September 21st.

Orientation Week will begin on September 28th. For students based in Kevin Street, Rathmines, and Cathal Brugha Street, the move to the new Grangegorman campus will take place during next academic year as planned. This will be delayed however due to the suspension of construction in recent months.

DBS

Key Dates: First year students will return on Monday, October 5th while existing students will return on Monday, September 21st.

DBS will continue to deliver online teaching and lecturing while all of their exams for the foreseeable future will be online.

NCI

Key Dates: First year and existing students will return on Monday, September 28th

National College of Ireland has stated that ‘’the majority, if not all, of classes at NCI will be delivered by lecturers online for the first semester which will run from September 2020 to January 2021’’. Students will be able to book study and library spaces online while a one-way system for walking through buildings has been implemented. Staff and students will be required to log in/log out by swiping their student card on a reader to help with contract tracing if needed.

They’ve also written a great blog with some effective ways to prepare for distance learning.

Point Campus are fully prepared for, and excited to welcome back all new and returning residents to our student accommodation. A lot of effort has been made these past few months to ensure everyone’s wellbeing and safety. Our communal spaces and rooms have been designed to allow those taking virtual classes to reach their academic potential unhindered, and for those attending lectures getting in out of college could not be any easier with the Luas right on our door step!

DISCLAIMER: Please note the information provided in this blog was accurate as of 14/08/2020. With the current changing situation always be sure to check out your own colleges website for the most up to date information. Some individual courses may have start dates that vary from the rest of their equivalent year.