International Undergraduate students

We welcome applications from international students who wish to undertake their full undergraduate degree at NUI Galway.

Our degree programmes are recognised worldwide, and we offer a broad range of options across the Arts & Humanities, Business, Law, Engineering, Computers Science, Medicine, Nursing, and Science.

Degree structure

The Irish higher education system is based on three main cycles – the Bachelor degree (undergraduate), the Masters degree (postgraduate) and the PhD degree. Most Bachelor degrees last between three and four years, although certain programmes such as Medicine take longer to complete.

Choosing your programme

When considering studying for a full undergraduate degree in another country, it is important to understand how undergraduate degrees are structured in different countries and how different systems might differ from your home country.

At NUI Galway and most other Irish universities, undergraduate degrees are generally more specialised than for example the United States model, where students study a broad range of general education classes before declaring a major.

In Ireland, students do not have to specialise in any one particular subject (e.g. History, Physics, or Marketing) in their first year, however you must focus on one overall area of study, for example Arts/Humanities, Business, Science or Engineering.  Applicants must put a good deal of thought into the programme they wish to apply to when applying to NUI Galway, as the programme you enrol on will determine your area of study at university.

At NUI Galway, students can choose to apply for either ‘open’ or more specialised degree programmes. The Bachelor of Arts (Omnibus) for example is an open degree programme that allows students to study a broad range of subjects within the Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences and Modern Languages in year one, before choosing two subjects to specialising at degree level.

Other programmes such as the Bachelor of Science (Undenominated) and Bachelor of Commerce, enable students take a broad range of subjects in their first year within the Science or Business before specialising by their final year.

Open degree programme are particularly suited for students who know generally what area of study they wish study at university, be it Arts/Humanities, Business, Science or Engineering, but who may not as yet know which particular subject(s) they wish to focus on.

Teaching and Assessment

Bachelor degree programmes are delivered through a combination of large lectures and smaller tutorials and/or laboratory classes (where relevant).

The academic culture at NUI Galway involves a good deal of independent learning and students are required to undertake self-directed study outside of regular teaching hours.

While Continuous Assessment is increasingly used, you may find that the academic culture at NUI Galway is more heavily geared towards formal end of term examinations compared to your home country. Depending on the discipline, you can expect that most classes will require an end of semester exam (usually 2 hours) which will count for approximately 70-80% of your grade. In the absence of regular testing, students are required to undertake a good deal of self directed study throughout the semester in order keep up with their workload.

We recognise however that this style of learning may be a big change from the teaching you have been used to at Secondary School (High School) in your home country and so our lecturers and support staff offer you plenty of support to help you make that transition.

Entry requirements for international students

The entry requirements for undergraduate degree programmes vary by country. For more information please refer to the entry requirements for your country

How to apply

Read more about how to apply to NUI Galway as an international undergraduate student