Students who got enough CAO points for an undergraduate engineering course at NUI Galway but failed to get the required mark in maths will be given a second chance to gain entry to the course with an exam next week.
The exam which consists of two papers will take place on Tuesday, 20 August in the Alice Perry Engineering Building.
The University has provided this exam for over 20 years to help applicants who did not achieve the required grade H4 or better in higher level mathematics.
Those who took lower level maths in the Leaving Certificate may also apply for the exam.
Students who pass this examination will be deemed to have satisfied the maths requirement and, providing they have the necessary points, will receive an additional CAO offer at Round Two.
Professor Peter McHugh, Head of the School of Engineering and Informatics at NUI Galway, said: “Engineers are designers and problem solvers, who innovate and generate the technology of tomorrow.
“Because of this, engineering programmes are focused on developing analytical and problem solving skills, and therefore require significant use of mathematics and applied mathematics. Every year we see a number of promising students who perform poorly on the day of the Leaving Cert exam.
“The Engineering Mathematics Qualifying Examination provides students with a second chance to demonstrate that they have the necessary standard in maths. Over the years, we have had some exceptionally talented students graduate and pursue successful careers in engineering because they were given the second chance which this exam represents.”
NUI Galway will also hold an intensive preparatory course for applicants intending to sit the exam.
This free course will run from 14 to 19 August. The aim of the course is to bridge the gap between the Leaving Certificate lower level and that required to be successful in the exam.
This will be achieved by tackling a variety of problems of increasing difficulty. Learning how to approach a problem and apply the knowledge available will be emphasised.
