Portobello Institute students urged to seek legal advice by higher education minister 

Minister for Further and Higher Education James Lawless told the Dáil on Thursday he was 'not one bit happy' with the situation at private college Portobello Institute. File picture: Brian Lawless/PA

Students who spent thousands to pursue a qualification to teach PE, but who have been left unable to register correctly, should consider taking legal advice, according to the Minister for Further and Higher Education.

James Lawless told the Dáil on Thursday he was "not one bit happy" with the situation at private college Portobello Institute. The Irish Examiner first revealed most applicants to the Teaching Council who completed the graduate diploma in physical education at Portobello Institute between 2022 and 2025 have been left unable to register.

On Thursday, Education spokesperson for the Social Democrats Jen Cummins raised the issue directly with the minister in the Dáil. 

"It's scandalous really," Ms Cummins said. She has been contacted by a student who paid €18,000 for courses at Portobello to become a qualified PE teacher. "Its not recognised," she said.

"Where does the buck stop ultimately?" she asked. "There's a little bit of confusion. It's not the Teaching Council, it's not QQI.

Mr Lawless said: "I'm not impressed at all with what happened at Portobello seemingly in terms of the courses being marketed in one way and then transpiring to have maybe different [citations] when they came out."

There is a very strict statutory framework in Ireland for accurate information being provided to learners of any course, he said.

However, one of the difficulties, he added, is that this is managed under the UK regulator. 

"There's nothing fundamentally wrong with that as such, but it does mean because it's accredited by a different jurisdiction, that the QQI regulations are not applicable to it in the same way they would be if it was registered under QQI.

"Students enter a contract, they signed up to a particular agreement, they are offered a course place, they accept it. I think there's legal entitlements arising from that as well, I'm sure they might be well advised to look at the legal framework around that," he said.

"I would advise those students to consider legal advice as to what options might be open to them.

"It would appear to me they have a strong ground for grievance based on what's transpired since."

'False advertising'

It appeared to him to be "false advertising", he said.  

It comes as Ireland's qualifications watchdog Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI) is to meet with the independent regulator of higher education in England, the Office For Students, to discuss the case.

The majority of programmes at Portobello lead to awards from UK universities.

A spokesperson for Portobello Institute said it respects the right of elected representatives to raise concerns on behalf of students and welcomes "the fact that this matter has been raised in the Dáil". 

"While we regret the tone of the exchange and the absence of important factual context, we hope the attention it has brought to the matter can now contribute to achieving a resolution." 

In an earlier statement it said: “The Teaching Council has sought clarity regarding one aspect of our graduate diploma course curriculum, the practical component, in order to fully satisfy its requirements. We have responded in full and believe that it meets the requirements."

It said it has engaged constructively "for some period" with the Council in an effort to resolve the matter. 

"During this period, graduates of the course seeking teaching registration have continued to be reviewed by the Teaching Council on a case by case basis." 

• Jess Casey is Education Correspondent.