Long-term students taking courses on the Internationalisation Register may require sick leave and/or holidays. Our International Register courses are designed for students to take a minimum of 25 weeks of study over an 8-month period.

Holiday

A holiday plan is arranged for each student at the time of booking, which appears on the booking invoice. Where feasible, Academic Year students are given holidays from June to September and also at Christmas. During their first week of school, new students will be given one opportunity to amend their assigned holidays. Students must have completed at least 6 weeks of their course before holidays are granted. Holidays must be for a minimum of 2 consecutive weeks.

Holiday periods granted cannot exceed 1/3 of the course time elapsed, i.e. after 9 weeks, you can take a maximum of 3 weeks’ holiday. The only exception to this is when the school is closed for the Christmas holiday. The holiday timetable agreed in your first week at school will be sent to the GNIB and cannot be changed.

Sick leave

Please note that we cannot accept teleconsultations, online consultations. Doctor’s Certificates have to be original, hard copies for in-person appointments and by a registered, chartered, professional doctor in Ireland.

If you have any symptoms of COVID-19, you should do the following:

• self-isolate (stay in your room) until 48 hours after your symptoms are mostly or fully gone
• wear a face mask if you have to be around other people
• tell the accommodation manager if you are staying in shared accommodation

People who test positive for COVID-19 or have symptoms should self-isolate (stay in your room) if they can.

But if you cannot self-isolate, everyone in the room should wear a mask. For adults and older children, this should be a medical or respirator mask.

The most common symptoms of COVID-19 are the following:

• fever (high temperature – 38 degrees Celsius or above) – including having chills
• dry cough
• fatigue (tiredness)

COVID-19 symptoms can be like symptoms of cold, flu or hay fever.

If a student has any other sickness besides COVID-19 symptoms and is unable to attend class, they must provide a doctor’s note that certifies the number of days’ leave to be awarded. Any certified sick leave will not positively or negatively affect a student’s attendance rate. All uncertified sick leave will be recorded as absence and will negatively affect a student’s attendance rate. Students must send all sick leave requests & certificates to academic@isi-ireland.ie . Please note that teleconsultations and online consultations will not be accepted. Doctor’s certificates must be original, hard copies for in-person appointments and by a registered, chartered, professional doctor in Ireland.

Unscheduled or emergency breaks

During the course of their studies, students may have reason to take an unscheduled break from their studies. The reasons for this could be extended personal sick leave or an emergency visit home due to the death or ill health of a close family member. In these exceptional circumstances, the above holiday policy can be altered at the discretion of the Academic Department.