Amidst a series of rent hikes at universities across the country, students at University College Dublin (UCD) staged a sit-in in protest of what they described as the “commercialisation” of third-level education.

The price of housing at the south Dublin university is to rise by 4% each year over the next three years.

College students are being distracted from their education by looking for accommodation.

UCD students' union has claimed the competition for higher education has now reached an “alarming level” as entry requirements for a course at the university exceeded 600 points for the first time ever.

The National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals (NAPD) has renewed its call for an internet safety module to be included in the second-level curriculum after the discovery of Cork teens’ Facebook pictures on a porn website.