STUDENTS AT NUI Galway who no longer wish to take up places in on-campus housing this year are set to be refunded by the company in charge of the accommodation.

Students at the university were informed late in August that their time on campus may be limited during 2020/21 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, many students had already booked accommodation at Corrib Village and Goldcrest developments in the expectation that they would have more campus hours.

In a statement, an NUI Galway spokesperson said that students would be entitled to a refund “if they decide not to proceed with their booking due to having less time on campus than originally planned”.

“At NUI Galway we are doing our utmost to deliver a safe and meaningful academic and social on-campus experience to the benefit of our students,” the statement added.

Students’ Union President Pádraic Toomey welcomed the news, saying that the extra financial pressure on students and their families during their families was not acceptable.

The union’s Welfare and Equality Officer Róisín Nic Lochlainn also called on other student accommodation providers and landlords in Galway to follow suit.

“Many students and their families had to make tough decisions to book accommodation with incomplete information about how much time they would actually be on campus,” she said.

“Now that the picture is finally becoming clearer our students are finding themselves stuck with accommodation they can’t afford and no jobs available for them to pay the rent.”