Country guide

Study in Ireland: universities, tuition fees and admission

Our catalogue has 41 universities and colleges in Ireland offering 1,049 undergraduate programmes in 21 cities. 988 of the programmes are at public institutions and 61 at private ones.

Universities

41

Programmes

1,049

Cities

21

EU fee / year, public

€2,350

Non-EU fee / year, public

€14,500

Always check current information on the official website of the university before you apply.

How admission works

You apply for full-time undergraduate courses through the Central Applications Office (CAO): for entry in September 2027 applications open on 5 November 2026, the normal closing date is 1 February 2027 (late applications until 1 May 2027), and course choices can be changed until 1 July 2027. Places are offered by points: the best six Leaving Certificate results count (at most 625 points), other EU/EFTA/UK school-leaving results are converted to points, and the minimum subject requirements of each course must be met. Some courses add a test, interview, portfolio or audition, undergraduate medicine combines points with the HPAT test, and places on tied points may be decided by random selection. Applicants who live or have lived outside the EU may have to apply directly to the institution instead of through CAO.

• Selection: cut-off score
• Main exam or platform: CAO

Tuition fees in Ireland

At public universities an EU student typically pays €2,350 a year, and a student from outside the EU €14,500 a year. All amounts are per year in euros; fees charged per credit or per semester are converted to a full year (60 ECTS credits or two semesters).

Where the fee depends on family income, the typical figure is the full fee and the range starts at the lowest one.

Good to know about fees

• Éire / Ireland: At public institutions, students who qualify for the Free Fees Initiative (mainly EU/EEA, Swiss and UK nationals who have lived in the EU/EEA, Switzerland or the UK for at least 3 of the 5 years before starting a first full-time undergraduate course) pay no tuition: it is paid by the state. They pay only the student contribution, €2,350 for 2026/27 (cut from €2,500 in Budget 2027; anyone who already paid gets €150 back), shown here as the national and EU fee. Students who do not qualify, including non-EU students, pay the fee set by each institution, shown per course where the institution publishes it. Private colleges are not covered by free fees and set their own fees.

Language of instruction

English: 1,044 programmes; Irish: 8 programmes. See all English-taught programmes in Ireland.

Map of universities in Ireland

Each dot is a university or college: select it to open its page. The street map is optional and loads images from OpenStreetMap.

Where to study: cities

All 41 universities in Ireland by city

What you can study

• Computer Science 75
• Business Administration 61
• Nursing 45
• Sport Sciences 44
• Law 37
• Audiovisual Communication 36
• Building Engineering 35
• Design 30
• Finance and Accounting 29
• Music and Musicology 28
• Languages and Literature 25
• Psychology 23
• International Business 21
• Marketing 21
• Mechanical Engineering 21
• Social Education 21
• Early Childhood Education 20
• Industrial Engineering 18
• Sociology 18
• Electrical Engineering 17
• Chemistry 17
• Pharmacy 16
• Economics 16
• Multimedia and Video Games 15
• Physics 15
• History 15
• Performing Arts 15
• Hospitality and Gastronomy 14
• English Studies 14
• Human Nutrition and Dietetics 13
• Tourism 13
• Primary Education Teaching 13
• Fine Arts 12
• Agronomy 12
• Biotechnology 12
• Biology 11
• Environmental Sciences 11
• Civil Engineering 9
• Industrial Electronics and Automation 8
• Fashion Design 7
• Food Science and Technology 7
• Criminology 7
• Mathematics 7
• Data Science 7
• Statistics 7
• Art History 6
• Energy Engineering 6
• Biomedical Engineering 6
• Architecture 6
• Biomedical Sciences 6
• Political Science 6
• Medicine 6
• Translation and Languages 6
• Physiotherapy 5
• Pedagogy 5
• Biomedical Laboratory Science 5
• Geography 5
• Archaeology 5
• Occupational Therapy 4
• Speech Therapy 4
• Labour Relations and Human Resources 4
• Journalism 4
• Philosophy 4
• Veterinary Medicine 3
• Dentistry 3
• Logistics 3
• Advertising and Public Relations 3
• International Relations 3
• Geology 3
• Animal Science 3
• Clinical Physiology 2
• Medical Imaging and Radiotherapy 2
• Aerospace Engineering 2
• Chemical Engineering 2
• Anthropology 1
• Landscape Architecture 1
• Veterinary Nursing 1
• Marine Sciences 1
• Podiatry 1
• Forestry 1
• Environmental Engineering 1
• Social Work 1
• Optics and Optometry 1

Entry scores in Ireland

We have official entry scores for 865 programmes (scale from 0 to 625, higher is better). The score is the result of the last admitted student, so it changes every year.

Hardest programmes to get into

Easiest programmes to get into

All entry scores in Ireland by field