Competition - post a photo you've taken of nature >>

CAO Irish Application to Uni UK student

Hi there, I am living in the UK and took A level qualifications and GCSEs here but I was born in Ireland with Irish parents and have an Irish passport so I would consider this to be Irish citizenship if that’s the case, does this mean I have to apply as an EU or Non-Eu student or international, also I was wondering how the general application and points system work, I want to apply for Dentistry or Optometry but the points seems to be quite high for dentistry even if I were to get A*A*A* it would be (185x 3) add 25 points for maths a level and 26 points for A in EPQ this would be equal to 606, and the entry requirements for UCC is 625, I am most likely to get A*AB which is 523 points, is the points entry requirements a cut-off? Or are you likely to get in if you apply with lower points, Optometry seems to be 532 points also which is higher than I would be expected to get.

I am also going to apply to UK unis through UCAS system and have to write a personal statement/ provide work experience/ interviews and have done UCAT test for medicine/dentistry. Would Irish unis be given the scores of UCAT and my personal statement? Also would I have to sit an entry test for Dentistry in Ireland too and would I be expected to travel to an Irish uni to complete interviews. Would I also have a different application date to apply to Uni considering I am a UK student? And how would I go about applying for finances?

Any help with any of these questions would be appreciated, I understand I have written quite a lot down, please let me know if it would be possible to apply to these courses or similar courses with lower requirements- on UCC dentistry it says course entry requirements are C in A level chemistry and C in A level physics or biology which doesn’t make sense considering I would need to get A* grades if I were to get anywhere close to the points, does this mean points are disregarded if a student were to apply with foreign qualifications?

(edited 1 year ago)

Reply 1

magicmark1

Hi,

You would apply through CAO like all Irish and EU applicants. The UK is still treated as it was prior to Brexit.

The points you’ve outlined are the minimum points for entry. If you hadn’t achieved those points you wouldn’t be getting a place in the course. I think dentistry also requires a HPAT exam to be completed. Look at the individual universities websites for details on their entry requirements. To achieve the maximum 625 you’d need A* in a 4th a-level. The EPQ or an additional AS don’t quite give you enough.

Note that points over the last few years have been higher due to covid mitigations. Hopefully next year will be closer to normal, so try looking at points for 2018 or 2019 to see what ‘normal’ is.

On the finance side, I don’t think you’d get anything on the Irish side. You’d have to check with your local finance service in your country of residence to see if they offer anything for study in Ireland. The fees are lower than England (€3000 per year).

Ignore the ‘minimum’ requirements on the uni sites. They really are minimums and, as you’ve already realised, are well short of what you’d need to have achieved for entry to these courses.

Reply 2

Zowowee

Anyone have any sense on how the points will go this year? Or if they will change the conversion table to account for the fact that English students were totally screwed by the Government this year? I have three As and an A* EPQ and I’m devastated that I won’t have enough points. I’d have been fine in 2019, but not sense. If the bands hadn’t been cut so drastically I’d Hse at least two A*. Maybe 3. It’s gutting.

Reply 3

Anonymous #1

I saw somewhere they are reviewing the current CAO scoring system for a-levels and that if you achieve 3 A*s at A2 level (one of which is maths) and a fourth AS in which you achieve an A, you can achieve the max. of 625. Hoping this is in place for those starting in September 2024 however...

Reply 4

CNChloe123

I hope so too that would be amazing, although still high requirements, would be in place for my brother who would be going into uni in 2026. Thank you for all your comments, I also got worse A levels than I was expecting in 2023, still applied to Irish courses but didn't get any I was happy with, I went into clearing too as a lot of people did this year in England and luckily got a place for physiotherapy with lower requirements which I'm currently doing now which was really exciting, I've heard its also a high demand course in Ireland as well as optometry and dentistry which I originally planned on. But there is an NHS grant to study £5000 a year for allied heath courses which has attracted a few Irish classmates to the UK as well. I hope @Zowowee you also got a course you were happy with, or are following any other pursuits, as it was an initially disappointing time for me too.