The admission procedure for Colleges and Universities in Ireland generally varies from year to year, depending on the number of seats available and the number of applicants. This result in a good, healthy competition for the most sought after programs.

International students who wish to study in Ireland have two options:

1. The first way is to take the Irish school leaving certificate examination after attending upper secondary school. This path is generally chosen by the majority of the students who take the examination and English language tuitions as well.

2. Other way is to undertake recognized examinations in their home country. It is however essential that before applying for any institution/ university in Ireland, a student must check that their educational qualification is sufficient and meets the entry requirements to prevent hassles in the future. However, to get admission in Ireland, the student's results must be very good. For example, for medicine 3 good 'A' level passes (grades A/B) or equal, in relevant subjects are required.

English is the language of instruction in all the institutions in Ireland and hence a student is expected to demonstrate a proficiency in the subject to be accepted to a third level program. And a minimum score in TOEFL would be 80/120.

Most higher education institutions prefer non-EU students to apply direct to them instead of through the CAO. You should contact the International Office or the Admissions Office of the higher education institute (HEI) in which you are interested, to enquire whether you should apply through the CAO or direct to the HEI.

For admission to all postgraduate programmes in Ireland, you should apply directly to the Graduate Studies Office at the institutions of your choice.

Please see www.cao.ie for definitions of standard and non-standard applications.

For postgraduate degree courses, there is no standard application date. The closing dates for applications generally fall between March and June of the year of proposed entry. You should contact the relevant institution for more details.