EU Applicants

ATU welcomes applications from European Union or European Free Trade Association countries to all full-time undergraduate programmes of the University

This page is for applicants presenting school leaving exams from an EU/EFTA country.

General Information

• Applications for study are made through the Central Applications Office (CAO).
• Read the CAO Handbook carefully, pay particular attention to important deadlines.
• The CAO deadline is February 1st for on-time applications, and May 1st is the final closing date for applications.
• You may apply for up to ten level 8-degree programmes and ten level 7 or 6 programmes.
• The Entry Requirements document must be read carefully for general information and for specific information relating to your country of origin.
• If there is a significant imbalance in the proportions of eligible applicants for a course between Leaving Certificate and other qualifications, places are offered to eligible applicants from each examination system group on the basis of ranking within their group proportionally.

Entry Requirements

• EU applicants must meet the same minimum entry requirement as Irish school-leavers.
• For information about how the entry requirement equate to the school leaving qualifications from your country please see the Entry Requirements criteria for EU/EFTA applicants Entry Requirements Document
• Only recognised subjects are considered. In general subjects deemed equivalent to a subject offered in the Irish Leaving Certificate.
• There may be certain subject requirements for individual programmes, please check these carefully on each individual Undergraduate Programme page.
• Entry to undergraduate courses is competitive and attainment of the minimum entry requirements does not guarantee a place. A points scoring system is in operation which are set after the Leaving Certificate results are issued.

English Language Requirements for International Students

Teaching at ATU is typically through the medium of English. Therefore, all applicants are required to demonstrate a high level of competency in the English language. Applicants, who are not native English speakers, must have an overall average score no less than 6.5 IELTS (or equivalent), with no individual section less than 6.0. All results must have been achieved within 2 years of application to ATU.

• EU students apply through the CAO. Applicants are required to provide proof that they meet the criteria of one of the Undergraduate English language tests as part of their application.
• Non-EU applicants can find out more here.

What should be included in your application?

• If you already have your school leaving exam results, please send certified copies of official transcripts of academic results to the CAO. They will be uploaded to your application record.
• If you are waiting for your school leaving exam results, please make a note of the expected date of results in your CAO application and send through the results as soon as they become available. If they arrive later than 1 August, we cannot guarantee that they will be processed in time for inclusion in Round 1 offers.
• A certified English translation of qualifications not issued originally in English, in addition to the certified copies of the documents themselves.
• In some cases, the final school report is also required.
• Proof that you meet the English Language Requirement if English is not your first language. Details of acceptable proof can be found in the Undergraduate English Language Tests
• All documents must be submitted to the CAO and are not to be sent to ATU directly.
• In the absence of these documents and translations the application will not be processed.

Assessment of EU applications

Results are evaluated on the basis of the results of any one examination taken in a single sitting.

• The first stage of the evaluation process requires you meet the minimum matriculation and specific programme requirements of a programme. Table 1 on each country page shows the conversion from Irish results. Entry Requirements Document
• Offers to EU applicants being assessed on the basis of school-leaving qualifications are issued following the release of the Irish Leaving Certificate results in mid-late August with a reply date of approximately one week later. Please see the CAO timetable of events.  Central Applications Office (cao.ie)