Ireland in 2026: the new TrustEd mark, work rights and where you will live

Ireland has a formula no other English-speaking country offers in the same way: a 25-week English course, a residence permission that allows you to work, and a capital city where a large Latin American community already knows the ropes. In 2025 the sector had what StudyTravel Magazine called a mixed year, with more students but fewer weeks per student. In 2026 three things changed that you should know about.

1. TrustEd Ireland replaces the old list

For years the guarantee of a serious English school in Ireland was a place on the ILEP list. In August 2026 the qualifications authority, QQI, announced the first group of English language schools to receive the new statutory TrustEd Ireland quality mark. The second application window closed in March 2026, and the ILEP list is expected to be retired once those decisions are made, by the end of the year.

For you this means one thing to check: a school authorised under TrustEd Ireland, or still on ILEP during the transition. Both carry learner protection. When EC English closed in September 2026, the protection cover for its Dublin school did what it was designed to do: students were moved to other member schools and their tuition was honoured. Note that the cover protects tuition, not accommodation or flights.

2. The rules for studying and working

• Citizens of Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and Chile enter Ireland without a visa for up to 90 days. Colombians apply for a visa first.
• To stay longer, you register for Stamp 2 student permission on arrival in Ireland. The registration card costs EUR 300. Courses must be on the approved list, at least 25 weeks long and 15 hours a week, and the permission is given for up to eight months at a time, renewable up to a maximum of three permissions.
• Work: 20 hours a week during the course, 40 hours a week from June to September and from 15 December to 15 January. This is the rule that pays for a large part of many students' stays.
• Money: since 30 June 2025 you must show EUR 10,000 for a year, or EUR 833 per month for stays of six to eight months (EUR 4,998 for six months). The requirement applies whether or not you needed a visa to enter.

3. Housing is being built, slowly

Everyone who has looked at Dublin knows the hard part is not the school. In April 2026 the government set a target of 42,000 new student beds over the next ten years, and a national student housing association launched in late 2025 to coordinate supply. That will not solve your search this year, but it tells you the direction.

What works now, in order of how easy it is to arrange:

• A homestay for the first four to eight weeks, booked through the school. It costs more per week than a shared room, but it is ready the day you land and gives you time to find a room.
• Student residences, which are expanding and can be booked from abroad, best for stays of a semester or more.
• A room in a shared house, usually found after arrival through the school's notice board and community groups. Cork, Limerick and Galway are cheaper than Dublin and their schools are equally accredited.

The honest trade-offs

Dublin rents are among the highest in Europe, and a 20-hour job at minimum wage covers living costs, not the course. The weather is grey, and the queue to register your permission can take weeks in peak season, so book that appointment early. On the other side of the scale: no visa to enter for most of the region, a legal right to work, a friendly city, and a school system that just gained a statutory quality mark.

For a student who wants to study English seriously and work at the same time, Ireland in 2026 is a clearer proposition than it was a year ago, not a riskier one.

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