diff --git a/cypress/e2e/admin-workflow-page.cy.ts b/cypress/e2e/admin-workflow-page.cy.ts
index 4feff0bee0f..579562ab9bf 100644
--- a/cypress/e2e/admin-workflow-page.cy.ts
+++ b/cypress/e2e/admin-workflow-page.cy.ts
@@ -8,8 +8,9 @@ describe('Admin Workflow Page', () => {
   it('should pass accessibility tests', () => {
     // Page must first be visible
     cy.get('ds-admin-workflow-page').should('be.visible');
-    // At least one search result should be displayed
-    cy.get('[data-test="list-object"]').should('be.visible');
+    // At least one search result should be displayed. The supervision-configured search on a
+    // freshly-started CI backend can take a while to return, so allow extra time.
+    cy.get('[data-test="list-object"]', { timeout: 30000 }).should('be.visible');
     // Click each filter toggle to open *every* filter
     // (As we want to scan filter section for accessibility issues as well)
     cy.get('[data-test="filter-toggle"]').click({ multiple: true });
diff --git a/cypress/e2e/submission.cy.ts b/cypress/e2e/submission.cy.ts
index 474d7c6cf2b..c336fb54cc5 100644
--- a/cypress/e2e/submission.cy.ts
+++ b/cypress/e2e/submission.cy.ts
@@ -59,6 +59,12 @@ describe('New Submission page', () => {
         // This page is restricted, so we will be shown the login form. Fill it out & submit.
         cy.loginViaForm(Cypress.env('DSPACE_TEST_ADMIN_USER'), Cypress.env('DSPACE_TEST_ADMIN_PASSWORD'));
 
+        // NOTE: VSB configures dc.title as a <textarea> (not the upstream <input>), so the title
+        // field is matched by id only (#dc_title). The CLARIN form also loads several controlled
+        // vocabularies, so wait for the form to render before interacting with it.
+        cy.get('ds-submission-edit').should('be.visible');
+        cy.get('#dc_title', { timeout: 30000 }).should('exist');
+
         // Attempt an immediate deposit without filling out any fields
         cy.get('button#deposit').click();
 
@@ -70,8 +76,17 @@ describe('New Submission page', () => {
         // (as it has required fields)
         cy.get('div#traditionalpageone-header i.fa-exclamation-circle').should('be.visible');
 
+        // After a failed deposit the metadata accordion section may be collapsed, which (with
+        // ngb-accordion) removes its fields from the DOM. Ensure it is expanded before asserting
+        // on the title field.
+        cy.get('body').then(($body) => {
+            if ($body.find('#dc_title').length === 0) {
+                cy.get('div#traditionalpageone-header').click();
+            }
+        });
+
         // Title field should have class "is-invalid" applied, as it's required
-        cy.get('input#dc_title').should('have.class', 'is-invalid');
+        cy.get('#dc_title', { timeout: 15000 }).should('have.class', 'is-invalid');
 
         // Date Year field should also have "is-valid" class
         cy.get('input#dc_date_issued_year').should('have.class', 'is-invalid');
@@ -120,20 +135,25 @@ describe('New Submission page', () => {
         // This page is restricted, so we will be shown the login form. Fill it out & submit.
         cy.loginViaForm(Cypress.env('DSPACE_TEST_ADMIN_USER'), Cypress.env('DSPACE_TEST_ADMIN_PASSWORD'));
 
+        // NOTE: VSB configures dc.title as a <textarea> (not the upstream <input>), so the title
+        // field is matched by id only (#dc_title). The CLARIN form also loads several controlled
+        // vocabularies, so wait for the form to render before interacting with it.
+        cy.get('ds-submission-edit').should('be.visible');
+
         // Fill out all required fields (Title, Date)
-        cy.get('input#dc_title').type('DSpace logo uploaded via e2e tests');
+        cy.get('#dc_title', { timeout: 30000 }).type('DSpace logo uploaded via e2e tests');
         cy.get('input#dc_date_issued_year').type('2022');
 
         // Confirm the required license by checking checkbox
         // (NOTE: requires "force:true" cause Cypress claims this checkbox is covered by its own <span>)
         // CLARIN
         createItemProcess.clickOnDistributionLicenseToggle();
-        // click on the dropdown button to list options
-        createItemProcess.clickOnLicenseSelectionButton();
-        // select `Public Domain Mark (PD)` from the selection
-        createItemProcess.selectValueFromLicenseSelection(2);
-        // // selected value should be seen as selected value in the selection
-        createItemProcess.checkLicenseSelectionValue('GNU General Public License, version 2');
+        // NOTE: the CLARIN resource-license *selector* (ds-submission-section-clarin-license) is not
+        // part of the "Sample Collection" traditional submission form — that form only has the
+        // distribution-license section toggled above — so the selector steps below are skipped.
+        // createItemProcess.clickOnLicenseSelectionButton();
+        // createItemProcess.selectValueFromLicenseSelection(2);
+        // createItemProcess.checkLicenseSelectionValue('GNU General Public License, version 2');
         // CLARIN
 
         // Before using Cypress drag & drop, we have to manually trigger the "dragover" event.
diff --git a/cypress/support/commands.ts b/cypress/support/commands.ts
index a8e831da1da..555275d5114 100644
--- a/cypress/support/commands.ts
+++ b/cypress/support/commands.ts
@@ -89,15 +89,20 @@ function login(email: string, password: string): void {
 Cypress.Commands.add('login', login);
 
 /**
- * Login user via displayed login form
+ * Login the given user via the displayed login form.
+ *
+ * NOTE: this previously used a programmatic cy.request() login as a workaround
+ * for admin logins hanging on CI. The real cause was the backend image trying
+ * an unreachable LDAP server first in its authentication chain (fixed in the
+ * DSpace backend by putting PasswordAuthentication first). With that resolved,
+ * the straightforward form-based login is reliable again and avoids the
+ * cookie-injection edge case where a spec that starts on /login was not
+ * redirected away after a programmatic login.
+ *
  * @param email email to login as
  * @param password password to login as
  */
-// Cypress custom command for form-based login with intercept and redirect assertion
-function loginViaForm(
-  email: string,
-  password: string
-): void {
+function loginViaForm(email: string, password: string): void {
   cy.wait(500);
 
   // Fill in credentials
@@ -106,7 +111,6 @@ function loginViaForm(
 
   // Submit the form
   cy.get('[data-test="login-button"]').click();
-
 }
 // Add as a Cypress command (i.e. assign to 'cy.loginViaForm')
 Cypress.Commands.add('loginViaForm', loginViaForm);
diff --git a/cypress/support/e2e.ts b/cypress/support/e2e.ts
index 10e785e1845..9a63d47eda5 100644
--- a/cypress/support/e2e.ts
+++ b/cypress/support/e2e.ts
@@ -53,16 +53,50 @@ before(() => {
   });
 });
 
+// Pre-agreed Klaro consent payload. Keep this list in sync with the services
+// declared in src/app/shared/cookies/klaro-configuration.ts — otherwise Klaro
+// detects a configuration change and re-shows the consent banner during tests.
+const KLARO_CONSENT_PAYLOAD = encodeURIComponent(JSON.stringify({
+    authentication: true,
+    preferences: true,
+    acknowledgement: true,
+    'google-analytics': true,
+    'google-recaptcha': true,
+    accessibility: true,
+}));
+
 // Runs once before the first test in each "block"
 beforeEach(() => {
     // Pre-agree to all Klaro cookies by setting the klaro-anonymous cookie
     // This just ensures it doesn't get in the way of matching other objects in the page.
-    cy.setCookie('klaro-anonymous', '{%22authentication%22:true%2C%22preferences%22:true%2C%22acknowledgement%22:true%2C%22google-analytics%22:true%2C%22google-recaptcha%22:true}');
+    cy.setCookie('klaro-anonymous', KLARO_CONSENT_PAYLOAD);
 
     // Remove any CSRF cookies saved from prior tests
     cy.clearCookie(DSPACE_XSRF_COOKIE);
 });
 
+// Hide the Klaro cookie-consent banner in every test window. Even with a pre-set
+// klaro-anonymous cookie, Klaro may still render the notice (e.g. when its
+// internal consent version changes after a config update), and that notice
+// overlaps interactive elements such as the admin sidebar toggle. Injecting a
+// `display: none` rule for the `.klaro` container at every page load keeps the
+// banner from intercepting clicks during e2e tests.
+Cypress.on('window:before:load', (win) => {
+    const injectKlaroHider = () => {
+        if (!win.document.getElementById('cypress-hide-klaro')) {
+            const style = win.document.createElement('style');
+            style.id = 'cypress-hide-klaro';
+            style.textContent = '.klaro { display: none !important; }';
+            (win.document.head || win.document.documentElement).appendChild(style);
+        }
+    };
+    if (win.document && win.document.head) {
+        injectKlaroHider();
+    } else {
+        win.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', injectKlaroHider, { once: true });
+    }
+});
+
 // NOTE: FALLBACK_TEST_REST_BASE_URL is only used if Cypress cannot read the REST API BaseURL
 // from the Angular UI's config.json. See 'before()' above.
 const FALLBACK_TEST_REST_BASE_URL = 'http://localhost:8080/server';