EU Undergraduate Assessment Process

Version Number: 4.0

Review Date: 17 April 2024

Owner: Director of Recruitment and Admissions

New Review: Within 3 years subject to national and/or EU developments

Policy Owner: Director of Recruitment and Admissions

Purpose
Definitions
Scope of this policy
Policy
Related documents and links
Contact for Further Information
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Purpose

This policy clarifies the EU assessment process for CAO undergraduate applications for applicants presenting school-leaving qualifications other than Irish Leaving Certificate and QQI FET qualifications. EU qualification equivalencies are agreed at a sectoral level with all Higher Education Institutions. This sectoral approach ensures a fair, just and equitable distribution of places to eligible EU/EFTA/UK undergraduate applicants from outside the Republic of Ireland.

Definitions

EU Assessment
The manual assessment of all applicants through the CAO to UCC from outside of the Republic of Ireland but considered EU for fees purposes.
PS/Points score
Indicative Points Score. Points equivalences are indicative only as it is not possible to include every result when pre-assessing.
Certified True Copy
A certified photocopy means that you photocopy your certificates/statements and then bring both the originals and the photocopies to an acceptable person or body (School, College, University, Police Station, Admissions Office, Notary) where they will stamp the photocopy as being a true copy of the original.

Scope of this policy

This policy covers the process for assessing EU (non-Irish) applicants for admission to undergraduate programmes in UCC as one of the participating Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to the agreed sectoral approach[1]. Unless otherwise specified, this sectoral approach covers examination systems currently in operation. Applicants presenting older examinations or qualifications not listed should contact the Admissions Office in advance of making an application.

Policy

Application process

Applicants must apply through the Central Applications Office (CAO). Application information and guidance is provided in the CAO Handbook and is also available on the CAO website at www.cao.ie. Each application must be accompanied by appropriate documentation as outlined in the CAO Handbook.

Documentation to be submitted with CAO Application Form

When submitting an application to the CAO it must be accompanied by the following documentation (or followed by the documentation if applying on-line):

Certified true copy of official transcripts of academic results, as soon as available
In some cases, the final school report is also required (to show the full range of subjects taken)
An official English translation is required in the case of qualifications not issued originally in English, in addition to the certified A4 photocopies of the documents themselves.

In the absence of these documents and translations, the application may not be processed. Applicants who are awaiting current year examination results must forward their results as soon as they become available to the CAO.

A-Level Applicants

UK-Based GCE (A-Level) exam results are assessed centrally by the CAO in accordance with the same scoring as the Irish Leaving Certificate[1].

Documentation Verification

Students presenting EU qualifications or examination types other than the Irish Leaving Certificate and UK-based A-Levels, who are successful in receiving an offer, must produce their official, original transcripts and documentation to the Admissions Office once they have been registered. Offers of places are provisional until such time as all Registration formalities have been completed within the University.

Assessments

Entry to third level is very competitive. Firstly, applicants must meet the minimum entry requirements (matriculation). For each institution there is an overall minimum requirement, (e.g. 2 H5 and 4 O6 including Maths and English). In addition, there may be specific requirements for individual courses. All applicants who meet minimum requirements compete based on their points score which is attained from their six best subjects, or equivalent thereof.
As points for Irish school-leavers are calculated based on a single sitting, EU (Non-Irish) qualifications are assessed on this basis. If this is not feasible within the structure of the exam, what is acceptable is explained in the EU Qualifications document.

The evaluation process involves assessing an application for Minimum Entry Requirements/Matriculation and specific subject requirements of the programme(s) to which the applicant has applied. The second stage of the evaluation process involves calculating an applicant’s IPS from the exam results provided in the application. All EU applicants are assessed on equivalencies as outlined in the EU/EFTA/UK qualifications document.

English Language Requirements

Teaching in Irish Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) is normally through the medium of English; therefore, all applicants are required to demonstrate a high level of competence in the English Language.
All applicants must provide evidence of equivalent competence in English Language, either through their school leaving examination or matriculation examination or by achieving the minimum standard in a recognised English language test. Information on English language competency requirements is located at this link.

EU Qualifications Sectoral Approach

The ssectoral approach between the CAO and the HEIs is outlined in the Entry requirements criteria for EU/EFTA/UK Applicants (other than Irish Leaving Certificate) for entry, Joint document of THEA, IUA and RCSI (EU Quals document), which is linked throughout this document. the EU Quals document is revised annually by all participating HEIs. Each annual iteration is to be applied for the year it is drafted. For future years, it will, therefore, act as a guideline only.
This document is the agreed criteria of the participating institutions. If institutions differ from the agreed criteria, this will be noted on the page for that country/qualification It is planned to review and refine the document at the end of each CAO season, with a view to publishing the scheme for the following year’s entry.
Adjustments to the scoring may be required where changes occur in educational systems, or in trends in grades awarded, in any of the countries described in the document. With reference to recognised educational comparison database sources such as ECCTIS UK, NUFFIC, NARIC Ireland and the OECDchanges can take place to ensure fairness and a consistent approach across all assessments. These sources are also consulted thorughout the assessment process to ensure strict and correct adherence to grade and IPS calculation.

[1] https://www2.cao.ie/downloads/documents/2024/Guidelines-EU-EFTA-UK-2024.pdf

[2] https://www2.cao.ie/downloads/documents/2024/Guidelines-EU-EFTA-UK-2024.pdf

Contact for Further Information

Admissions Office

https://www.ucc.ie/en/ask/prospective/

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Academic Affairs and Governance Gnothaí Acadúla agus Rialú

EU Undergraduate Assessment Process