Sick Leave

Liffey College recognises that learners may occasionally be unable to attend classes due to illness, injury or medical appointments. Learners must follow the procedures below when absent for medical reasons. 

1. Reporting Sickness

Learners must notify the College on the first day of sickness and on each subsequent day of absence. 

Notification should be made as early as possible through the College’s designated contact method. Notification of sickness does not automatically mean that an absence will be recorded as a Justified Absence.  

How to Submit a Medical Certificate 

• Log in to your Student Portal.
• Select “Contact the College” from the left-hand menu.
• Compose a message explaining your absence(s).
• Attach all relevant medical certificates.
• Ensure that all attachments are clear and legible.

2. Medical Certificates

Where a learner wishes an absence to be recorded as a Justified Absence, appropriate medical evidence must be provided by an appropriately registered Irish medical practitioner. 

Medical certificates should be submitted as soon as possible and normally within the same week as the absence. Late certificates will not be accepted unless the learner provides a reasonable explanation for the delay. 

The College reserves the right to request an original certificate and/or additional information where reasonably necessary.  

3. Online and Electronic Medical Certificates

The College does not reject a medical certificate simply because it has been issued or submitted electronically or following a remote consultation. 

However, certificates or documents generated solely through an automated online service, questionnaire, self-assessment or similar process without a consultation with a medical practitioner will not be accepted as evidence of a certified medical absence. 

This would allow us to distinguish between: 

• a genuine medical consultation conducted in person, by telephone or online; and 
• a certificate generated automatically through an online questionnaire or self-assessment without a consultation with a medical practitioner.

4. Medical Certificate Requirements

All medical certificates submitted to the College must clearly contain the following information: 

• Learner’s full name; 
• Date of the medical consultation; 
• Date the certificate was issued; 
• The period for which the learner is medically unfit to attend classes, including the start and end dates; 
• Full name of the medical practitioner; 
• Irish Medical Council (IMC) registration number; 
• Medical practice or service name and contact details; 
• Official practice or service letterhead, including contact details.; and 
• Signature or appropriate electronic signature/stamp of the medical practitioner. 
• The medical certificate must confirm that the learner attended a medical consultation in person, by telephone, or online. If this information is not included, the medical certificate will be deemed invalid.

5. Verification

The College reserves the right to verify the authenticity and validity of all medical certificates. Verification will include confirming with the issuing medical practitioner or medical practice: 

• whether the certificate was issued by them; 
• whether the learner attended a medical consultation in person, by telephone or online; 
• the date of the consultation; 
• the date the certificate was issued; 
• the period for which the learner was certified as unfit to attend classes; and 
• whether the certificate covers the period of absence claimed by the learner. 

The College will seek only information reasonably necessary to verify the certificate and will not require unnecessary information about the learner’s diagnosis or medical condition. 

6. Acceptance of Medical Certificates

Submitting a medical certificate does not automatically guarantee that an absence will be recorded as a Justified Absence. 

The College will reject documentation that is incomplete, cannot reasonably be verified (including where the issuing doctor or clinic does not respond to the College’s request to authenticate the details), is submitted outside the required timeframe without a reasonable explanation (e.g. hospital admission), appears to have been altered, does not meet the requirements of this policy, or consists of a certificate generated automatically through an online questionnaire or self-assessment without a medical consultation conducted in person, by telephone or online. 

Medical certificates issued retrospectively to cover absences from previous weeks will not be accepted. For example, a certificate issued on 12 October stating that a learner was unfit to attend classes on 5 and 6 October will not be accepted.

Learners must notify the College on the first day of illness and on each subsequent day of absence. Medical certificates should normally be submitted within the same week as the absence.

Where documentation is rejected, the absence will remain uncertified. 

7. Attendance and Medical Appointments

A medical certificate does not convert an absence into attendance. 
Justified Absences remain absences for attendance-recording purposes. Learners must continue to meet the College’s applicable attendance requirements.
Absences that are not certified cannot be made up with extra classes, during or after your programme. 
Non-acute medical appointments and services should, where reasonably possible, be arranged outside class hours.  
Learners with ongoing health issues that may affect their attendance should communicate with the College as soon as reasonably possible. 

8. False or Fraudulent Documents

Learners must not submit false, altered or fraudulent medical certificates. 
The College reserves the right to verify submitted documents. Where a medical certificate or other medical evidence is found to be false, altered or fraudulent, the matter will be treated as a serious disciplinary matter and will result in expulsion from the College.  

Please note: This policy should be read together with the College’s Attendance & Punctuality Policy and Absenteeism & Expulsion Policy. 

Responsible Department: Operations Department   / Responsible Person: Haseeb Ahmed 
Email: haseeb@liffeycollege.ie  / Telephone: +353 1 444 4447 / +353 86 123 2008

Date reviewed: 02 October 2026