Student story – exchange year in Cork, Ireland

Hello! 🗺️ 

My name is Ana and I spent a year on exchange in Cork, Ireland. Today, I’m going to talk about what a typical school day looked like when I was in Ireland.

The mornings

First of all, my school started at 8:45, so I used to wake up around 7:30 to have breakfast with my host mom and talk about our plans for the day. After that, I would get dressed. In Ireland, most schools require uniforms. I used to wear a skirt, but there was also an option to wear pants, along with a shirt and a jumper. Around 8:05, I would leave home and walk to the bus stop, which was about a 5-minute walk away. The bus ride to school took around 20–25 minutes.

Irish Transition Year

My timetable was divided into three periods, each with three classes and a break in between. The second break was longer because it was lunchtime. You could either bring your own food or eat the meals provided by the school, which varied daily; for example, lasagna or chicken rolls.
I studied fourth year, which is called TY (Transition Year) in Ireland. It is a non-academic year focused on trying different subjects and participating in various activities to help you discover what you might want to study in college

Subjects in school

I had Maths, English, PE, and Science during both terms, but subjects like Business, Home Economics (cooking), History, Enterprise (mini company), Chinese, Geography, Music, and Art would change between the first and second terms.

My school was an all-girls school and quite small, with just 20 girls per year – about 10 girls per class. Some people might find this boring or see it as a disadvantage, but I thought it was great because it helped everyone to have a good relationship. I could meet girls from different years, and from my point of view, it made everything much easier. I could talk to everyone and mix with them without any problems.

After school activities

School finished at 15:45, and I would walk into town, about a 25-minute walk from school, to meet up with friends for a coffee or go to the gym.

I usually had most afternoons free because we didn’t have many tests during the terms – just a few at the end of each term. Around 7:30 p.m., I would take the bus home and have dinner with my host family, which was my favorite part of the day. We would talk about how our days had been, and we never ran out of conversation. It was the best!

Homework important for evaluation

Every day, teachers gave us homework, which is very important to them – sometimes even more important than tests. As you can see, the academic system is different from Spain or other countries. The biggest difference might be that in Ireland, school is much more relaxed. They prefer to evaluate students through projects and homework rather than tests, which I found easier because it gave me more free time in the afternoons.

After dinner, I would do my homework and then spend some time with my host family before going to bed.

Nowadays, when I look back, I realize how much I enjoyed my days in Ireland, all the experiences I had, and the life lessons I learned. It definitely was the best experience of my life!