Admissions Policies (EU/EFTA/UK Undergraduate)

First Year Change of Course

The University offers a scheme whereby first-year students, who find themselves in the wrong degree programme, may apply online, to change to another first-year programme.  Students must have the required number of Leaving Certificate points or equivalent, meet the necessary subject requirements of the course they wish to change into, and there must be a place on the course. A change of course cannot take place until the close of the CAO season and is in no way guaranteed. Students who are permitted to change must also realise that they will have missed the first weeks of their new programme and must take responsibility to make up “lost ground”.

There are also possibilities to change into another related course at the end of the first year. Details of these internal transfers are available from College Offices.

The Change of Course procedure is now closed for 2023. If you are having difficulty in your course please see the Having Second Thoughts information page to look through the options available to you, including contact details for our First Year Experience Coordinator Nóirín Deady. 

Deferred Entry Policy - CAO Programmes

NB: We recommend using Google Chrome as your browser when making an application.

Students who have been offered a place in University College Cork through the CAO may be permitted, on application to the Admissions Officer, to defer First Year entry to the University for one year.

It is not always possible to defer entry. Deferred Entry requests are considered on a case-by-case basis and a range of factors are taken into account, including programme quota, the nature of the offer and the reasons set out by the applicant. Any application for Deferred Entry being made on medical grounds should be evidenced by a letter or certificate from a doctor.

There is no guarantee that a Deferred Entry application will be approved in any circumstance.

Deferred Entry is not A Leave of Absence from a year beyond first year.

Applying for Deferred Entry of a CAO place

  1. Do NOT accept the CAO offer.
  2. Complete and submit the Deferred Entry Application Request below immediately but no later than two days before the 'Reply Date' shown on the CAO Offer Notice.
  3. A non-refundable administrative fee of €25 is required to process your deferral application. 
  4. The Admissions Office will communicate the decision to the applicant by email within one week of the application.

Deferral Conditions

  1. Deferrals will not be approved for students who intend to take up another third level place in the current academic year. Doing so will forfeit the deferral.
  2. You must follow the procedure for taking up a Deferred Entry place as outlined above.
  3. Deferral places may be subject to a quota.
  4. Deferrals will not normally be granted for:
    1. Late rounds offers, where candidates have not achieved the Round 1 cut-off points score
    2. Where granting a deferral will significantly disadvantage applicants competing for places on the course the following year
    3. Places on Medicine or Dentistry programmes
  5. The University cannot guarantee that the programme will run for the planned year of entry, or that it will not be amended, or that the student fees will not change.

Late Deferred Entry Applications

If you have already accepted and now wish to defer, you must contact the Admissions Office immediately. In this way, it may be possible to offer the place to the first waitlisted applicant.

After week 3 of Semester 1, Deferred Entry applications can only be considered in very exceptional circumstances, e.g. serious medical grounds.

Registered first year students deferring their registered course on medical grounds should in the first instance contact the First Year Experience Coordinator. 
Email: n.deady@ucc.ie 

 

Taking up a Deferred Entry place

In order to take up a deferred place, the applicant must re-apply through CAO by 1 February the following year, pay the appropriate application fee to CAO, and place the deferred course as the only preference on the CAO application. The applicant should submit a query through the Prospective Student webform with the new CAO number as soon as it is received

In the event that the conditions of the deferred place are breached, the deferred place will be forfeited, and the applicant will have to reapply through the CAO and compete for a place in the normal way. 

Deferred Entry Policy - UCCApply Programmes

Students who have been offered a place in University College Cork through the UCCApply Platform may be permitted to defer entry to the University for one year on a limited number of programmes.

It is not always possible to defer entry. Deferred Entry requests are considered on a case-by-case basis and a range of factors are taken into account, including programme quota, the nature of the offer and the reasons set out by the applicant. Any application for Deferred Entry being made on medical grounds should be evidenced by a letter or certificate from a doctor.

There is no guarantee that a Deferred Entry application will be approved in any circumstance.

Deferred Entry is not A Leave of Absence from a year beyond first year.

Applying for Deferred Entry of a UCCApply place

  1. Accept your UCCApply Offer on the UCCApply portal.
  2. Complete the online Deferred Entry Request Form
  3. A non-refundable administrative fee of €25 is required to process a deferral application.
  4. If a deferral is granted, a confirmation email will be sent to the applicant, a place will be held and re-offered the following year, provided the programme runs the following year.

Taking up a Deferred Entry Place

Applicants who successfully deferred their UCCApply programme will be re-offered the programme the following year, provided the programme runs.

Student Garda Vetting

Student Garda Vetting

The National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Acts 2012 to 2016 (the Acts) provide a statutory basis for mandatory vetting of persons who wish to undertake a work placement and/or activities that bring them into contact with children and/or vulnerable adults.

In accordance with the Acts, UCC requires students (or prospective students) for relevant programmes to be vetted. Registration on these programmes is provisional, pending the outcome of the Vetting process. Upon completion of online programme registration, students will be prompted by email to begin the vetting process.  Further to the programmes listed as requiring vetting, any students who engage in university activities that may involve unsupervised access to children and/or vulnerable adults will also be subject to UCC’s Vetting processes.

ALL students who have resided outside Ireland for a period of 6 months or more (from the age of 16 years) must furnish a Police Clearance Certificate from their country or countries of residence. This Certificate should state that the student has no convictions recorded against him or her while residing there. In addition to obtaining a Police Clearance Certificate, all students may be invited to sign a legal declaration (Affidavit) in the presence of a Commissioner for Oaths confirming that they have no criminal convictions current or pending.

Admissions Office

Iontrálacha

1st floor, West Wing, Main Quadrangle, T12 K8AF

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