October 2010 Leaving Certificate Excellence Honoured at NUI Galway

A select group of first-year students at NUI Galway recently received a total of €83,300 in recognition of the high points they achieved in the recent Leaving Certificate examination. At a special ceremony on Thursday, 14 October, 49 students were presented with a cheque for €1,700 and a specially designed scroll to mark their achievement. Entrance Scholarships are given annually to new entrants at NUI Galway who reached a minimum of 560 points in their Leaving Certificate examination, except in Medicine. In Medicine, ten Scholarships were awarded, based on the combined results in the Leaving Certificate and the new Admissions Test (H-PAT Ireland). This year Entrance Scholarships were awarded to students from 41 individual schools throughout Ireland. The winners represented 16 counties including Antrim, Clare, Cork, Donegal, Dublin, Galway, Kerry, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Limerick, Mayo, Meath, Offaly, Roscommon and Westmeath. NUI Galway President, Dr James J. Browne, who presented the cheques to each individual winner, said: "We are delighted to recognise the academic talent of these 49 outstanding individuals from all over Ireland. The purpose of these awards is to encourage each student to develop his/her academic potential to the fullest, by setting a realistic threshold of excellence and rewarding every student who attains that level." Designed to attract the best students to NUI Galway and reward their academic excellence, the awards may be held with any other scholarships or grants, including the University's extensive Sports Scholarship Scheme. Ends