FAQ

All incoming students must complete UCD registration (also known as confirmation of enrolment) before starting undergraduate studies at UCD. Registration will begin late-August and all students will receive  a full registration guide from CJCO Office. Registration takes place on-line each year. Students only need to log in, accept terms and conditions and complete the personal information section in order to fully activate their record. Students must also upload a suitable photograph to be used for their student record and student card (UCard). Learn more about the UCARD, including the terms of usage here.

All UCD students are required to confirm their enrolment to activate a number of systems that automatically registers you to your Brightspace sites. Each module has a Brightspace site for module information.

UCD Connect is the University's private website for students and staff. It provides access to a range of University services and information including:

• UCD email account (All UCD students receive a @(opens in a new window)ucdconnect.ie email account as part of UCD Registration. Students are expected to check their UCD Connect e-mail on a frequent and consistent basis in order to stay aware of and comply with important notices and instructions from the University.  The University is supported by the UCD Connect email service, as an official means of communication with all students).
• UCD calendar
• Your personal files on the IT network
• UCD news & announcements
• Access to UCD websites and lots more, e.g. anti-virus software, etc.

SISWeb is system that you can use for:

• Registration
• Updating personal information such as PIN number, security question, address and emergency contacts
• Viewing your module grades/results

To log into SISWeb, you will be asked to enter your username and password. Your username is your UCD student number. If you can not remember your student number, please Ask Us and we will be happy to find it for you. In order to help us locate your student number, please confirm your date of birth and the course that you studied while you were here.

If you have never changed your password it will be your date of birth in the 6-digit format DDMMYY. If you are not able to log into SISWeb using your 6 digit date of birth as your password, you can reset your password at any time by using the (opens in a new window)UCD Password Self Service tool.

Check out the IT Start of Term Guide 2021 to help you.

Brightspace is a tool used to provide e-learning services to UCD staff and students. It allows lecturers to share module materials (module outline, required books and cases etc.), post announcements for students, run quizzes and surveys. 

UCD faculty can also add resources such as Powerpoint, Captivate, video, audio, animation, and other applications for students to access online and enhance their teaching and learning experiments.

UCD students are automatically registered to the Brightspace sites of their programme once they have completed their online registration.

To log in to (opens in a new window)BrightSpace you will be asked to enter your username and password. Your username is your UCD student number. Your password will be the same password that you use to access your SISWeb.  Current students can reset their password at any time by using the (opens in a new window)UCD Password Self Service tool.

Please note that BrightSpace takes 24 hours to update following activation of your registration & any changes made to your module registration.

Check out the IT Start of Term Guide to help you.

If you have never changed your password, it will be your date of birth in the 6-digit format DDMMYY.

However, for security reasons you will be required to eventually change this password. You can log into SISWeb 20 times using your 6 digit date of birth as your password after which it will expire and you must create a new one. Current students can reset their password at any time by using the (opens in a new window)UCD Password Self Service tool. If you are not a current student or if you are having any difficulty resetting your password yourself, please Ask Us and we will be happy to help you.

IT Support Hub:  browse & search for useful how-to guides & articles in the (opens in a new window)IT Knowledge Base.  Contact the (opens in a new window)IT Helpdesk with your query or to your report an issue.

For students who entered UCD post 2000, copies of your Syllabus/ Curriculum/ Module information descriptors are available online.

If you studied between 2000/01 and 2005/06, you can find detailed syllabus informationation for each year of your programm, please click here.

If you studied from 2006/07 until the last academic session, you can find syllabus information in the Curriculum Archive (opens in a new window)here.

If you are looking for information from the current academic sessions, please click (opens in a new window)here.

For students who entered UCD prior to 2000, please use (opens in a new window)Student Desk Connector with the details you require and we will be happy to research this for you.

If you resit a module you will not attend lectures/tutorial/labs and will only take part in the assessment of the module. The assessment can take various forms depending on the module that you are resitting (multiple choice exam, paper, etc) so students should contact the module coordinator to find out exactly what the resit assessment will involve and when the assessment will take place. Resit modules do not show up on your trimester timetable.

If you repeat a module, it is essentially like you are taking the module again for the first time. You will attend all lectures/tutorials/labs for the module and will participate in any/all continuous assessment throughout the trimester. Repeat modules will show up in your trimester timetable.

Where a student receives a provisional failing grade for a module, the student may avail of an in-module resit prior to confirmation of the module grade by the Academic Committee Exam Board where an in-module resit is provided for in the module descriptor.

You will be able to progress carrying 10 credits from the immediately preceding stage only. This means that all other stages must be completed in full before you can progress.

Please note that you can review your stage progression and status in the UView section of SISWeb.

Extenuating circumstances are serious, unforeseen circumstances beyond your control (ie. serious illness, family bereavement, etc) which prevent you from meeting the requirements of your programme. If you are unable to complete assignments or attend required classes/exams due to unforeseen circumstances, you can apply for extenuating circumstances. If you are granted extenuating circumstances in a module, you will have the opportunity to retake this module in the following trimester for no additional cost and with no cap applied to your GPA.

Before you apply for extenuating circumstances, it is important that you seek guidance and support from your College/School Office and/or Student Advisor. If you are unsure of who to speak to about applying for extenuating circumstances, please Ask Us, and we will be happy to connect you with the correct member of staff.

A Leave of Absence allows you to take an approved and specified period of time off before returning and completing your programme. Taking a Leave of Absence is essentially like hitting pause on your programme. As you will not be registered to any classes during a Leave of Absence, you do not incur any fees for the that specified period of time.

If you are not continuing with your programme, you must complete and submit an official Withdrawal Form. 

More information here.

Plagiarism means using the work of others without acknowledging the original source. This includes presenting the ideas, theories, concepts, methodologies or data from the work of another person (including other students, friends, family, or purchasing work from a third party) without acknowledgement and appropriate citation. Plagiarism can occur in any form of work you may be asked to do at University, this includes essays, projects, digital work, music, language assessments, images and video recordings. A full definition of plagiarism can be found in the UCD Student Plagiarism Policy.

Your exam timetable is available from your academic affairs office. Any queries relating to percentage grades or ranking should also be addressed to the academic affairs office.

You'll find lots of useful information relating to assessment here. UCD uses a letter grade system that may be different to what you may have experienced before. Information about this system as well as assessment terminology is available here

Any queries relating to grades should be sent to your lecturer by email-contact information is available through the (opens in a new window)UCD staff directory

All students of UCD Joint Colleges in China will receive a UCD student card (UCARD)-you'll need to complete online registration before you are eligible to receive one. Cards will normally be sent to your College office after the October holiday and will be distributed by the stage 1 student advisor (辅导员)

For helpful information on understanding how your Degree Award GPA is calculated, check out the Calculation of Degree GPA page.

During the Grade Approvals Process at the end of each term, UCD Registry is required to temporarily block access to students’ Statements of Results from the current year and, in many cases, the previous years. When access to results is blocked, "pending" will appear in place of your module grades. Your Statement of Results will return to normal once the final results for the term have been released. You can find the dates that final results are released in each term on the Assessment Key Dates page.

1. Students who began their programme from 2000 onward can access electronic pdfversions of their official documents in SISWeb free of charge: 

• Log into SISWeb(username is your UCD student number.  If you have never changed your password, it will be your 6 digit date of birth in the format DDMMYY)
• Go to the Registration, Fees & Assessment (Alumni, use Academic Services tab)
• My Official Documents
• Electronic Documents

Documents from SISWeb can be verified by a third party through UCD's online verification system. Before you give your electronic documents to any third party, ensure that you "enable" the documents by clicking the "enable access" button as this will allow the verification process to work properly.

If you have forgotten your SISWeb log-in details, please Ask Us.

With the exception of your Statement of Results, all electronic documents are available to you throughout the year via SISWeb. During the Grade Approvals Process at the end of each term, UCD Registry is required to temporarily block all access to students’ Statements of Results.  The Statement of Results will become available again once the final results are released for the current trimester.

First, give the third party the document from SISWeb. You can either print out the document to give to them or you can send the document as an attachment. Once they have received your SISWeb document, they can verify the document through UCD's online verification system. To verify a document, the third party goes to (opens in a new window)www.ucd.ie/verify and enters the Student ID and Document ID listed on the bottom of your document.

Please note that the online verification process will only work if you have "enabled" the document for verification. To enable a document, click the "enable access" button next to the document in SISWeb. You can enable or disable a document at any time.

For more information on the online verification process, visit our Document Security page.

Current students, former students & alumni of UCD can order hard copies of their official documents via SISWeb. Your SISWeb remains active indefinitely after you leave UCD, so you will never lose access to it. To log in to SISWeb, you will be asked to enter your username and password.

Your username is your 8 digit UCD student number. Your password (if you never changed it) is your 6 digit date of birth (DDMMYY).  If you have forgotten your student number or password, please Ask Us (when asked 'what is the nature of your query' select 'SISWeb' from the drop-down list).

Once logged in to SISWeb, you can order hard copies by following the steps below:

• Click on the 'Registration, Fees & Assessment tab' (alumni, go to Academic Services)
• My 'Official Documents'
• 'Request Hard Copy Documents'
• Select 'New Request'and choose the documents that you would like to order
• Enter your address, contact information & any additional comments you'd like us to know about your order (upcoming deadlines, etc) in the 'alternative address/comments/contact info' section
• Proceed to Checkout

More information on Hard Copy Documents.  If you began your programme from 2000 onward you can access electronic official documents in SISWeb instantly, free of charge.

Students who began their programme from 2000 onward can access electronic pdf versions of their official documents in SISWeb free of charge. 

The fee for hard copy documents is as follows:

• Academic Transcript: €23
• Academic Statement: €11
• Statement of Results: €10

When you order your official documents, you will be sent 2 sets of each requested document.

An Academic Transcript lists your complete academic history, including programme attended, a breakdown of marks/grades achieved, the degree awarded, your overall grade and conferring date. Transcripts are only available to students who have completed their programme.

A Statement of Results lists the marks/grades acheived in each module for a specific exam period (i.e. per year or per trimester). Your Statement of Results are available to you after you complete each trimester. The Statement of Results is the document that you should use if you have not yet completed your programme and are asked to provide proof of your results to date (ie. for an internship, a post-graduate application, etc.).

Please contact the your College academic affairs office for queries relating to fees if you are studying in China. If you require information on Dublin-based programmes, you should visit the UCD fees website
For undergraduate programme fees, go here and for taught Masters programmes go here.

You will never lose access to SISWeb! If you are no longer a registered student in UCD you will still be able to access SISWeb and view the details of your student record from the time that you were here. If you are unsure of how to log into SISWeb, please refer to the "How do I log into SISWeb?" section above.

If you completed your programme from May 2013 onward, you will be able to keep your UCD email account and G Suite applications for life. This will include access to the following:

• Your emails and contacts
• Files in your Google Drive
• Your Google calendar
• Unlimited storage space on Google Drive

Please note that while you will retain access to your email account and G suite applications after you graduate, you will not retain access to other IT Services including Office 365, One Drive, Software Downloads, Library and VLE.

If you attended UCD anytime after May 2013 but did not complete your programe, or if you completed your programme before May 2013, your UCD email account will eventually expire. Your email account will expire 200 days after the end date of your last registered term. For example, if you were last registered for the 2016/2017 academic year, your email account will expire 200 days after 31 August 2017.

Before the email account is closed, you will be sent 2 emails from UCD IT Services notifying you that your account will expire by a certain date in order to allow you to move/save any important documents or information which is stored in your UCD email account. You will be sent the first email 60 days before the account is due to expire and you will be sent the second email 30 days before the account is due to expire.

If you have any specific questions about your UCD email account, please contact UCD IT Services.

UCD Global has lots of information to help make your arrival in Ireland as smooth as possible.  Check out their Arrival in Ireland FAQs to find helpful information.  If you have further questions that are not covered in the FAQ page, contact UCD Global directly.

If you have questions about booking on campus accommodation, please click here or email (opens in a new window)residences@ucd.ie.

If you have any questions about booking off campus accommodation, please click here or or email (opens in a new window)roombookingsupport@ucd.ie.

Ireland's stayback visa for international students is known as the Third Level Graduate Programme, Stamp 1G.  Full details on the application process. 

If you have completed your programme and your final results have been released, to confirm course completion, you should submit the electronic transcript that you can access in SISWeb.

UCD Global has a dedicated team to help you with all of your visa and immigration-related questions.  Please contact (opens in a new window)immigration.enquiries@ucd.ie and they will be best able to help you.

The (opens in a new window)Facebook group for Student Immigration Support continues to grow. Please feel free to join this group

You can also find helpful information on the (opens in a new window)INIS website.

Admission to programmes is through the China National University Entrance Examination (Gaokao). Any questions relating to admission should be directed to the recruitment office of the College you are considering applying to. The recruitment websites of the three UCD Joint Colleges in China are listed below:

(opens in a new window)Beijing Dublin International College (BDIC) 北京都柏林国际学院
(opens in a new window)Chang'an Dublin International College of Transportation (CDIC) 长安都柏林国际交通学院
(opens in a new window)Guangzhou Dublin International College of Life Sciences and Technology (GDIC) 广州都柏林国际生命科学与技术学院