How much does it cost to study English in Ireland?

Summary of expenses

English Language schools in Ireland offer courses of various duration and intensity but the most popular option for non-EU student is the 6+2 Work and Study programme. With this option you are purchasing a 6 month course and an entitlement to stay in Ireland for a period of 2 months after your course ends. (We cover course and renewal options in a separate article.) In this article we will break down all the expenses and additional funds you need take into account when planning your English Language course in Ireland.

Course Package

Course package is the main category of your Study Abroad expenses. The total cost of course package consists of Course Fee (the price of the course that you are buying) and several additional items such as Registration, Final Exam, Insurance, and Materials. In many cases these items are mandatory and considerably increase the final price of the course package.

Very often only the Course Fee is advertised and you learn about additional fees only at the final stages of your booking. This way of presenting course pricing makes it harder to compare prices of different schools. When booking your course with ElitaStudy we will give you a detailed breakdown of the cost of items in your Course Package.

Course Fee

The primary component of a Course Package is the Course Fee. Schools determine their pricing structure independently and pricing levels can vary a lot from school to school. At ElitaStudy we group schools into three categories: Budget, Standard and Premium based on relative Course Fee cost. Cheaper school doesn't necessarily mean worse quality but this is a discussion for a separate article.

Course Fee also depends on the intensity of the course. The standard course consists of 15 hours of tuition per week. More intensive course course options include 20, 25 and even 30 hours of tuition per week. As you can imagine higher intensity will mean progressively higher Course Fee.

English language courses in Ireland are usually scheduled for either morning (AM) or afternoon (PM). When booking a course you can choose which Course Schedule suits you better. Course Fee for afternoon courses is about 15% to 20% cheaper than morning courses.

Another aspect that has an effect on Course Fee is the course focus. Most popular course is the General English course or GE. This type of course will improve your overall language proficiency and is also the cheapest. Specialised Exam Preparation courses, Academic English or Business English courses are other options that will be considerably more expensive.

The table below shows approximate Course Fees for a 15h per week General English course -- the most popular option.

Registration Fee

Registration Fee is a one-time payment that the school charges at the beginning of the course. Registration Fee varies between schools but you can expect the fee amount to be between €50 to €75.

Health Insurance and Learner Protection Insurance

All non-EU students arriving to Ireland must show evidence of private health insurance. Students are also required to purchase an insurance that covers their course package in the case of school's insolvency. You can purchase an optimised insurance policy that covers both requirements directly with the school. We highly recommend purchasing the insurance along with the course. While technically you can look for a comparable insurance on your own, in reality it will be hard to beat the level of cover and price offered by the schools.

The Medipel insurance that combines Health and Learner Protection currently costs about €125.

Exit Examination

You are required to take a recognised examination at the end of your course. This also applies to General English courses. There are several exam types available to you. The most common are: TIE, PET, FCE, CAE, IELTS. Your exam choice may be determined by price or by your specific needs. Some courses are designed to prepare you for a specific course, which makes the choice of Exit Examination clear. Majority of students who are not concerned with a specific exam chose the TIE exam as it is the cheapest.

Here is an approximate price table for the most popular exam types:

Why would I need a more expensive exam? The answer to this question will depend on your plans. A specific type of exam may be required by a university you wish to apply to or it may be an immigration requirement of a country you wish to emigrate to. We will explore various exam types is na separate article.

Course Materials

Schools quite often charge in the region of €50 for course materials (course book, photocopies, etc). In some cases this charge is refundable at the end of the course if you can return the book in good condition.

Accommodation

One piece of advice we can give regarding accommodation is to not leave until the last minute. Finding good accommodation in Ireland is often challenging and relatively expensive. If you leave it until very late you may find that the most attractive options are already taken. Keep also in mind that pre-booking your accommodation is an immigration requirement. We will deal with the state of accommodation in Ireland and strategies for finding accommodation in separate articles. In most cases your initial accommodation package will be organised by your school or agency and it will be either a Host Family, Student Residence or a Hostel. Here we will briefly describe these types of accommodation and current average prices.

Booking Fee

When reserving your accommodation via school or agency, you will normally be charged a booking fee. This fee varies but you can expect it to be somewhere in the region of €50 to €80. The booking fee is a one-time payment.

Host Family

Host Family accommodation means staying in a household that has been approved by the school and that has experience hosting students. Many students choose to stay with a Host Family at least of the first couple of weeks of their stay. Host Family accommodation prices start at about €230 per week for a single room. If you don't mind sharing your room with another student, shared options start at around €190 per week. The cost of larger rooms with private bathrooms may exceed €300. Usually, some meals are included in a Host Family package.

Student Residence

When choosing this type of accommodation you will be staying in a purpose-built Student Accommodation facility. This type of accommodation usually means staying in a private or shared bedroom and sharing common living areas. Student Residences generally offer a high standard of facilities and security. The cost of accommodation in Student Residence is about €275 per week. Meals are typically not included in a Student Residence accommodation package.

Hostel

Students on a budget or in cases where other accommodation is not available may choose to stay in a hostel. Hostel accommodation normally consists of dormitories that are shared by a number of people. Hostels are open to tourists and other non-student visitors. Meals are not included in a Hostel stay. Typically a weekly stay in a hostel will cost about €200 or more depending on the quality of the hostel and the maximum number of people in the room.

Flights and Airport Transfer

Flights

In order to enter Ireland to study you will need a return ticket. The date of your flight back should be within the expected expiry time of your visa.

Consider buying a ticket with a flexible rebooking policy. Most students decide to renew their course and being able to change the return date of your flight without a few will save you money in the long run.

Ticket prices change all the time and there will be price differences depending on your country of origin. However, just to provide a general idea of the possible expense, here are the average return flight prices with flexible rebooking policy for several popular study origins:

When booking your ticket, check with your chosen airline if they offer discounts for students. You may get a pleasant surprise and save some more money for your study abroad.

Airport Transfer

After arriving in Ireland you will need to get from the airport to your accommodation. Ireland is safe and offers good public transport options. However, trying to find your way around in an unfamiliar place may be stressful. By pre-booking an Airport Transfer you will be welcomed at the Airport arrivals hall and comfortably escorted to your chosen place of Accommodation.

Airport Transfer cost will vary depending on the distance from the Airport to the place of Accommodation. In Dublin area you can expect the cost of transfer to be about €80 of even €100. ElitaStudy offers transfers in Dublin area at a competitive price of €50 when purchasing a course package with us.

Financial Requirements

Irish Immigration requires that you are able to show you have access to a specific amount of cash. This proves to the Immigration Office that you can support your stay in Ireland.

Currently, students enrolled on English language courses need to show evidence of access to €3,000. However, this amount will increase to €4,200 for any courses starting after 1 July 2023. This increase reflects the rising cost of living in Ireland.

Evidence of access to funds can done by presenting original bank statements to the Immigration Officer.

Visa fee

After arrival to Ireland you will need to register with the Immigration office in order to receive your Irish Residence Permit (IRP). This process currently costs €300. Please note that IRP was previously called GNIB card and you may find that some sources still refer to it in this way.

Summing up

This post turned out rather long and I'm happy you got this far. I will conclude by summarising the various expenses in a table:

I hope you found this article helpful and better prepared for your Study Abroad experience in Ireland. Above all, I wanted give you a clearer picture of the level of investment required to study English in Ireland. I believe there aren't many resources out there that provide information about required expenses and savings in such a detail. Prices listed above are realistic but it is important to note that they are an approximation. Please don't consider this to be a definitive price list. Prices can change and will depend on seasonality and more importantly your particular choices.