Living in a host family
If you want to live as close to everyday life in Ireland as possible, you are in good hands with a host family. With this type of living, the students are independent, but they also have to follow some rules within the family. For this they are usually fed in the morning and in the evening and may have other amenities, for example clean laundry. There are also arrangements in which the students are allocated some space in the kitchen for their groceries and prepare their own meals, which are often typical for the country. That has to be discussed in advance.
The family provides their own room for sleeping and studying. The rest of the house is shared by all residents. In exceptional cases, the student may have their own bathroom or small cooking facilities, for example.
Special features of Digs
While this form of accommodation is known as ” homestay ” in other countries, it is called ” Digs ” in Ireland, which means something like “Bude”. The host family often hosts more than one student. Those who like to have a lot of hustle and bustle are not particularly well looked after in this form of accommodation for studying in Ireland, as it is important in a family to be considerate of one another and respect the privacy of others.
Most of the time, host family stays are more suitable for Irish students traveling home to their own family on the weekend. Many “ Digs ” are only set to stay from Monday to Friday, but there are also some that accommodate students full-time. These are then a little more expensive.
There are various websites on the Internet where host families offer vacancies, for example hostingpower.ie, homestaybooking.com or getdigs.ie.
Cost of staying with a host family
An overnight stay with a host family usually costs between 20 and 60 euros. Usually students don’t pay any additional costs for things like electricity or heating. Breakfast and dinner are also included in the rent.
| Advantages | Disadvantage |
| Living in a quiet area | Much consideration needed |
| No need to worry about utility bills | Little privacy |
| Regular and varied meals | Possibly far away from campus |
| Learn English | Host family could be subjectively unsympathetic |
| No housekeeping necessary | |
| Good to settle in at the beginning |
Other accommodation options
The Long-Term Hostel is another, but rather unusual, form of accommodation for studying in Ireland. To learn more about the country of Ireland and continent of Europe, please follow ezinesports. Several students live together in a hostel and share common rooms and kitchens. Sometimes meals are included in the rent, as are utilities. A rough guideline for the costs is 150 to 200 euros per week.
Quality Assurance in Higher Education in Ireland
In Ireland, quality assurance in the education sector is largely in the hands of the national quality assurance agency QQI (Quality and Qualifications Ireland). This was re-established in 2012. It has since replaced its four predecessor organizations. These were: HETAC (Higher Education and Training Awards Council), FETAC (Further Education and Training Awards Council), NQAI (National Qualifications Authority of Ireland) and IUQB (Irish Universities Quality Board). They were each responsible for parts of the Irish education system. The QQI now carries out their tasks in the context of quality assurance in higher education in Ireland in a bundled manner. One of the greatest innovations is connected with the merger of HETAC and FETAC. As a result, the QQI is responsible for higher education as well as for vocational and other non-academic courses.
The tasks of the QQI
The QQI is legally entrusted with the external quality assurance of the entire tertiary education sector. It monitors all education providers as well as all academic and professional courses offered. Your responsibilities include the following:
- the initial recognition of educational providers
- the accreditation of new courses
- the continuous monitoring and review of the already recognized institutions and the accredited courses
In addition, the QQI is also responsible for awarding vocational degrees and degrees if the educational institution is neither a university nor an Institute of Technology. (Institutes of Technology are comparable to the universities of applied sciences in Germany.)
In planning: Quality assurance in Ireland for international students
QQI is also currently working on additional quality assurance measures in higher education in Ireland specifically for foreign learners. These already exist in Australia (CRICOS Register and ESOS Act), for example. There should be a code of practice for the provision of study courses and vocational training programs for international learners. This should ensure the quality of their learning experiences. In this context, a quality seal is also to be introduced with the International Education Mark. It should be mandatory for Irish education providers to accept international learners.
The NFQ (National Framework of Qualifications)
The National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ) consists of a total of ten levels and includes all Irish educational qualifications. Each level is based on nationally uniform standards with regard to the acquired knowledge, skills and competencies. The administration and further development of the NFQ also falls within the scope of the QQI. This also includes the recognition of individual educational qualifications for a certain level of the NFQ. The institution and course must have this recognition and classification in the NFQ in order to be officially recognized.
An online searchable list of all study programs recognized by the NFQ is still in progress. There are currently various databases in which you can search for recognized courses.
