Students who achieve the points for undergraduate engineering degree courses at NUI Galway but do not have the maths requirement have a second chance, thanks to a special annual maths examination being offered by the university on Wednesday August 19.
It has provided this facility for more than 20 years to help applicants who did not achieve the required grade C3 or better in higher level mathematics. Students who took lower level maths in the Leaving Certificate may also apply for the exam. Students who pass it will be deemed to have satisfied the maths requirement and if they have the necessary points, will receive an additional CAO offer at Round 2.
This year, in a new initiative, NUI Galway will hold an intensive preparatory course for applicants intending to sit the exam. This free course will run from today (Thursday ) to Tuesday August 18. As well as preparing students for the special examination, lecturers will demonstrate the significant relevance of mathematics across engineering programmes and will highlight the applicability of the subject to some illustrative engineering examples.
Professor Padraic O’Donoghue, dean of engineering and informatics at the university, says mathematics is central to the teaching of engineering.
“Every year we have prospective students who have an aptitude for maths but on the day of the Leaving Cert did not have a good exam. These are the students we are targeting with our special entrance maths examination to provide a second chance for them to prove their capabilities in this important subject.”
NUI Galway has reported a “soaring demand” for its engineering programmes, especially for new courses such as energy systems engineering. This was designed in response to a growing demand for professional engineers to work in the energy sector. There is also demand for engineering innovation which aims to create a new type of electronic engineer with skills in innovation and entrepreneurship essential to delivering the “Smart Economy”.
“Ireland’s ‘Smart Economy’ will require graduates of a very high calibre,” explains Professor O’Donoghue. “This exam, allows quality students who have scored well on points a second chance. Over the years we have seen some high-calibre students study here with us, graduate and go on to have very successful careers because this special exam provided that opportunity. This exam is in keeping with NUI Galway’s policy of providing additional entry opportunities to students.”
Applications for the special maths examination will be accepted at the admissions office reception desk up to 9am on the morning of the exam. People interested in the revision maths course and the examination should log onto www.nuigalway.ie/engineering/specialmaths html for further details.
