Your education questions answered by Brian Mooney

I am an Indian student doing my undergraduate studies in St Joseph's College, Bangalore. I have taken microbiology, chemistry and botany as my major subjects. I would like to know more about study options in Ireland, the qualifications I will need to gain a place at a third-level institution there and the costs involved. My father is currently working as a doctor in the Bon Secours Hospital, Cork. Could you recommend some of the websites that contain information that will be of use to me. I am particularly interested in University College Cork.

To gain admission to a third-level college in the Republic of Ireland, you would need to apply for a place through our Central Applications Office, which handles all first-year undergraduate applications on behalf of our third-level colleges. The initial closing date for the current year was February 1st, but there is a late applications date of May 1st. If you are interested in applying next year, you have plenty of time to research your options. Applications can be made online at www.cao.ie.

If you want to explore any course available in Ireland, the central reference point is the Qualifax website, which contains the details of every course available - including all national certificates, ordinary degrees and higher degrees available through third-level colleges, including universities. The site is available at www.qualifax.ie. For information on colleges in Cork, the University College Cork website is www.ucc.ie and the Cork Institute of Technology is at www.cit.ie.

Regarding the matter of the qualifications you will need for entry. Students in Ireland take the Leaving Certificate, which is scored on the basis of a maximum of six subjects each with up to 100 points for an A1, in each subject. Colleges also accept British A-levels, for which some colleges award 190 points for an A, giving a student with three A-level grades 570 points, only 30 short of the maximum of 600. Some colleges are currently considering reducing the points awarded for an A grade at A-level to 150, thus UK-based students will need to take four subjects, if they wish to be in the running for sought-after courses.

Colleges will consider other qualifications offered on an individual basis, for example, the International Baccalaureate is offered by a number of applicants each year. You should contact the colleges in question, regarding their individual admissions criteria.

Regarding the matter of cost. There is much confusion in relation to university fees and the question of who is liable to pay them. At undergraduate level there are three categories of fee status: (i) "Free" (ii) EU and (iii) Non-EU. Since 1996 the Exchequer pays tuition fees ("free" fees) to the universities on behalf of full-time undergraduate students who meet defined criteria. Students who do not meet the criteria will be liable for either EU fees or non-EU fees. While a student must hold EU nationality in order to qualify for "free" fees, the assessment for EU fees is based not on nationality but on residency.

To qualify for "free" fees a student must

hold EU nationality or refugee status in Ireland, and

have been resident in an EU member-state for three of the five years prior to entry, and have not previously undertaken a degree programme at third level.

Students in your situation, who do not qualify for "free" fees, will pay either EU fees or non-EU fees. The average range of EU fees is from €€4,000 to €€7,000 and Non-EU fees are from €€11,000 to €€23,000.

A European Union passport, EU citizenship or refugee status does not grant automatic entitlement to European Union fees. European Union fee rates apply only to students who meet the following conditions:

(a) For students aged under 23 on September 1st on year of entry:

Parent(s) must have been permanently resident (that is principal residence for the purpose of taxation) in an EU member-state for three of the five years prior to entry, and

The student must have been permanently resident in an EU member state for three of the five years prior to entry.

As you are not currently resident in Ireland or another EU country, you will be levied with the full non-EU fees if you are offered a place by an Irish third-level college.

Brian Mooney is president of the Institute of Guidance Counsellors. E-mail questions to bmooney@irish- times.ie