NARIC guide on Higher Education Systems in the European Union

the senior trade certificate of the Department of Education. This is acceptable for some courses only. It is an
apprenticeship-based course, taken after the junior trade certificate and involving a minimum of one year’s study. This
course is offered at some vocational schools and technological colleges which provide second-level
programmes.
In general, the technological colleges require a leaving certificate in five subjects including English and mathematics, or
equivalent. A pass ( 1 ) in a science subject is also required for a few courses.
For the colleges of education, a grade C on higher level leaving certificate paper in Irish, and passes in English, mathematics
and three other subjects are the minimum requirements for entry.
Interviews, aptitude tests and practical tests are also used by some colleges. For instance, applicants for physical education
teacher training must undergo tests of movement ability, and most art colleges require a portfolio of work.
Admission to a number of courses is competitive and a points system may be used. In most colleges, however, there may be
provision for admitting a small number of students who do not meet the formal course requirements.
Summary qualifications for admission to non-university higher education:
1. Leaving certificate
2. Senior trade certificate — some colleges and courses only
3. GCE ‘A’-levels or equivalent.
II.1.2. Qualifications for admission to university
In general, admission to university education is on the basis of the matriculation certificate or certain grades in the leaving
certificate. In the colleges of the National University of Ireland (NUI), all students who wish to register for a course of study
leading to a degree must hold a matriculation certificate.
Up until 1992 students could matriculate by taking the matriculation examination. Students now matriculate on the results of
the leaving
certificate or other equivalent examination. The leaving certificate is
the examination which is most commonly presented for admission to
universities and is acceptable to all colleges in this sector.
Most institutions in this sector operate a points system for undergraduate courses. Places are allocated in order of merit on the
basis of qualifications in the final school-leaving examination. The best six results of the leaving certificate are counted for
points purposes. The maximum that can be gained by a student is 600 points ( 1 ).
The points system is particularly important in areas where a high number of applicants are competing for a limited number of
places, such as medicine, physiotherapy or pharmacy.
Many courses also have special subject requirements; to qualify for admission, students must have passed, or obtained certain
grades in, certain subjects in the leaving certificate or other examination. For instance, in the University College Dublin,
mathematics and a laboratory science subject are required for admission to courses in medicine, veterinary medicine, science,
engineering, architecture, agricultural science, physiotherapy and radiography, in addition to the normal requirements of Irish,
English and another language in order to matriculate.
The minimum entry standard in universities is a leaving certificate in at least six subjects, with grade C or better in at least
two subjects on higher level papers.