Medicine from the Leaving Cert

The six schools

Undergraduate medicine runs at six universities. Points shown are the minimum for entry in the year named; 3 of them also applied random selection at the cut-off, meaning not everyone on that score was offered a place.

* Random selection applied at the cut-off. These are historical entry scores; check CAO for later rounds and entry years.

Subject requirements

All six need maths at O6 or H7, and the points minimum of 480 and the subject requirements must both come from the same sitting. The science requirements vary by school, as shown above.

Scoring up to 2026 entry

Your Leaving Cert points are moderated above 550, then your HPAT score is added. The maximum is 865: 565 from the Leaving Cert after moderation, plus 300 from the HPAT. Ties are broken on your pre-moderation points, then by random number.

UCD publishes the lowest Leaving Cert and HPAT scores admitted, with the corresponding score needed in the other component:

In the published examples, 625 Leaving Cert points with a HPAT of 173 met the cut-off, as did 554 points with a HPAT of 187. These are historical results, not predicted cut-offs.

The HPAT

Two and a half hours, three sections, online and remotely proctored, with no breaks. Sat once a year in a single window and marked out of 300.

Your score does not carry over. A HPAT result can only be used for courses starting the same year, and there are no remarks or rechecks. You need a CAO number before you can register, so arrange your CAO application before HPAT registration. Registration closed on 16 January 2026 for 2026 at €164, rising to €239 late.

Graduate entry

Four years, at four schools, and selection is gAMSAT alone. No interview, no Leaving Cert points, no HPAT. You need a 2:1 or better in a first honours bachelor degree, held or expected by 1 July.

GAMSAT cut-offs rose at all four schools this year. Graduate entry is excluded from the Free Fees Initiative, so it is the expensive route. University of Galway opens a four year graduate entry programme in rural and connected health in September 2027, with 48 places at full roll-out.

What it costs

If you qualify for Free Fees, tuition is covered and you pay the student contribution of €2,500 a year plus levies. If you do not, or you are on graduate entry, you pay tuition on top.

Across the whole degree

Built from published per-year rates held flat. Fees rise most years, so treat these as floors rather than forecasts.

SUSI

All of these bands also cover the student contribution in full. Thresholds rise if you have siblings in further or higher education. Assessed on the previous calendar year's income.

HEAR, DARE and mature entry

Every school reserves places through HEAR for socioeconomic disadvantage and DARE for disability. You still sit the HPAT and are still ranked on the combined score. What is reduced is the score you need, usually by 10 to 20 per cent. No school publishes a lowered HPAT minimum.

HEAR income limits for 2026 entry are €46,790 for families with fewer than four dependent children, €51,325 for four to seven, and €55,630 for eight or more, plus €4,785 for each sibling or parent in further or higher education. Income alone is not enough: you also need a minimum score across the other indicators. DARE has no residency requirement, so A-level students can apply.

Mature entry, at 23 or over

Mature applicants sit the HPAT too, and get their results in April rather than June so schools can shortlist. Mature entry and HEAR or DARE are mutually exclusive. There is no QQI or further education route into any medicine course, with one exception: RCSI accepts approved Level 6 Access to Science awards, and only for mature entry.

Applying from Northern Ireland or Britain

You apply through the CAO, not UCAS, and you sit the HPAT rather than the UCAT or BMAT. A-levels are converted onto the same points scale, so you compete on equal terms.

Three A*s plus a fourth subject and the maths bonus reaches 625, the same ceiling as the Leaving Cert, and moderates the same way. Under the Common Travel Area, UK applicants keep EU fee status. Irish is waived automatically at UCD, UCC, Galway and RCSI for anyone educated outside the State; Trinity and UL ask for Irish or another language. Trinity also lets A-level students meet requirements across three consecutive years rather than one sitting.

2026 application dates

Common questions

Details awaiting an update

These details were unavailable at the last review. Check the relevant admissions office for updates.

• 2026 entry points for any school. CAO Round One offers issue on 26 August 2026.
• UCD and UCC tuition for 2026/27, and their non-EU undergraduate fees.
• RCSI's EU graduate entry fee for 2026/27.
• HPAT 2027 dates and fee, and the 2027 HEAR income limits.
• Mature entry place numbers at Trinity, UCC and RCSI.
• Whether UCC and Galway apply their reductions to the combined score or to raw Leaving Cert points.

At the last review, some school pages still showed older deadlines, tables or HPAT fees. Check that any figures you use apply to your entry year. Tell me if anything here has moved.