Study in Ireland at Limerick University, Internships, Working Permits and Stay Back Visas

The University of Limerick is proud to be the happiest University campus in the World according to the 2019 iBarometer Student Survey. This is due to the amazing student support available and a focus on providing practical, work-focused education.

Education in Ireland and Limerick is a high quality but affordable option due to the excellent funding provided by the Irish government and excellent scholarship opportunities available to all international students. Partial scholarships up to the value of €4,000 are automatically offered to Vietnamese students with high grades (7.5 or above) from High School or Bachelor Degrees.
 
Student Experience
 
UL focuses on helping students have the best possible experience while here, even during COVID times. One of the key services in this is our mobile app called UL Campus Connect. All offer holders are given access to that where they can connect and chat with their classmates, seniors from their class, alumni and UL staff. This thriving online community builds relationships and friendships before students even arrive in Limerick. The UL Global Team has 25+ staff who are dedicated to providing excellent support to our incoming International Students each year.

 
Teaching
 
The teaching in UL is really practical and is focused on preparing students for success in the working world once graduated. One of the main ways of doing this is for students to work on real-world scenarios during their coursework. All Bachelor students complete an 8-month practical internship in a company related to their field of study. That is arranged by UL and is the biggest internship program in Europe! Our Masters students also get lots of opportunities for internships. One of the biggest differences between the teaching styles in Vietnam and Ireland is that in Ireland you are given more independence to make an opinion and you have to then back up that opinion with research. Feedback on the student experience and teaching can be found here from a UL Vietnamese alumni - https://studyireland.ie/2017/04/11/top-tips-for-vietnamese-students-in-ireland/. We have had a number of Vietnamese students come to UL and find success after graduating including Vu Dinh (now working with Facebook) and Long Do Thang (working as a Software Engineer in Microsoft)

For more information about The University of Limerick, please click here:

 
Learning environment
 
The UL Campus is absolutely beautiful. It is one of the nicest places on earth to study. Not only that but the people are extremely friendly and Ireland and Limerick are extremely safe places to live (top 5 safest countries in the world). Some examples of this are the welcome packs that our accommodation teams prepared for our newly arriving students to ensure they have the basic essentials when they get to UL. Also our International Student Society is one of the most popular in the University and they run loads of fun social events for our international students to make friends and socialize.

 
Medical Support
 
Students must purchase a Health Insurance policy before applying for their visa. It costs €160 / 4.3M VND for the year and that covers any large-scale costs in the event of serious injury. Healthcare is subsidized in Ireland so there normally is a small fee of €50 to access a GP or Hospital but the rest of the costs are looked after by the state. That is also the case for International Students. Any healthcare treatment related to COVID is completely free including testing.
 
What can I study?
 
UL is a comprehensive University with 19 Schools. The main ones are Science, Engineering, Business, Law, Arts, Humanities, Education and Health Sciences. Our most popular and strongest majors are split between our Business School, Computer Science and Engineering. We are extremely well ranked (top 50 in the world) for Aeronautical Engineering, Sport Science, English. Entry requirements are normally an academic grade of 7.0 or above for consideration onto Bachelor or Masters Degrees. Students from Vietnamese High Schools can sit either SAT or complete a Foundation Year for entry onto Bachelor Degrees. The University also has an English language requirement of 5.0 for entry onto Foundation and 6.5 for entry onto Bachelor or Masters Degrees. Many Vietnamese students have studied English in our University Language Centre prior to starting their program, this allows access for students whose IELTS isn’t quite at 6.5.
 
Internships
 
As mentioned, ALL Bachelor Degree students complete an 8 month, paid, internship as part of their degree. These are organised by UL and students complete them with companies related to their studies. We have internship partnerships with over 2,000 companies including Google, Apple, Microsoft, Facebook as well as many more. This internship happens towards the end of Year 3 for most students. Students can also work part time (up to 20 hours per week) while they study. These part-time jobs can be on or off-campus, many of our international students work in retail, restaurants or hospitality during their studies. Upon graduation, international students get an automatic stay back visa to stay in Ireland to work (1 year for Bachelor Graduates and 2 years for Masters Graduates). UL assists students with the job searching process upon graduation and is rated #3 in Europe by Times Higher Education for Career Preparation.
 

Teaching in COVID
 
The teaching method in UL this year is a blended learning model. Students will complete large classes (lectures) online but will have smaller group classes and discussion sessions on campus and face to face with other students and professors. Our online learning hub also facilitates student interactions with their classmates and lecturers. Student safety and welfare is very important in UL so we are trying to be as safe as possible while also giving students that essential on-campus experience for group or practical work.
 
Travel in COVID
 
UL has put in place flexible learning arrangements for students if they are affected by travel restrictions, visa delays or COVID related issues. Students can study entirely online or can arrive later in the program at a time that works better for them. Exams and assessments will be completely online so the students who are studying online will only miss the on campus practical sessions (which are recorded for their benefit also). We firmly believe that the best way to teach is face to face and in person, however, we understand that students situations vary by each location. We want to facilitate all students to be able to access education in UL.

For more information about The University of Limerick, please click here: