Ireland Medicine: HPAT, Interviews and RCSI

Ireland Medicine: HPAT, Interviews and RCSI

If you are an EU school leaver applying through the CAO, RCSI says you will not be interviewed and will not write a personal statement. RCSI says the ranking for each university course is Leaving Certificate points plus your HPAT-Ireland score. Interviews and statements belong to the other routes: non-EU applicants, who apply direct and write a two-page personal statement, and mature entrants.

RCSI says this in plain words. The CAO's own medicine page returned no readable text to our fetcher on 7 November 2026, so we quote none of it. So if you are an Irish or EU school leaver, stop preparing for an MMI you will not sit and put the hours into the HPAT. If you are applying from outside the EU, the opposite holds: your statement and your interview are the parts you control. The UK medicine interview guide for international students covers the UK side if you are applying to both countries.

Every page quoted below was checked on 7 November 2026. The undergraduate medicine rules for school leavers change for 2027 entry; that change is quoted below.

Which routes interview, at RCSI

RCSI's admissions interviews page:

"Irish and EU School Leavers applying for Medicine, Pharmacy, Physiotherapy or Advanced Therapeutic Technologies via the CAO do not need to undergo an Admissions interview. Similarly, Irish and EU Graduates applying for Graduate Entry Medicine via the CAO do not need to undergo an Admissions interview."

Its personal statements page uses the same wording for statements, then adds: "All non-EU applicants are required to complete a two-page personal statement as part of the RCSI application process."

Sources for the rows: RCSI's medicine apply page, entry requirements and Graduate Entry Medicine page. RCSI lists 90 EU and 220 non-EU places for undergraduate medicine. Its entry page says plainly: "Non-EU applicants are NOT required to take the HPAT-Ireland examination."

How EU school leavers are ranked

RCSI's medicine page describes the CAO ranking:

"The HPAT score is added to the Leaving Certificate points to provide a final overall score. This score is used to rank all applicants for each university course."

Its entry page is shorter still: "The allocation of School Leaver places is purely based on points." To compete at all, you need "a minimum of 480 points in the same sitting of the Irish Leaving Certificate examination or equivalent" and an HPAT sat "in the year of admission to the programme."

HPAT-Ireland is required for undergraduate medicine at six institutions, per ACER's HPAT-Ireland site: University of Galway, RCSI, Trinity College Dublin, University College Cork, University College Dublin and University of Limerick.

What changes for 2027 entry

RCSI's entry page sets out a change "for students seeking admission to undergraduate medicine degree programmes from August/September 2027", applied by the Irish universities that run undergraduate medicine:

"Leaving Certificate points will no longer be moderated or adjusted – full points scored by candidates will be applied in the combined score calculation."

"Points scored in the HPAT assessment will be weighted to 150 maximum (down from 300 previously)."

For scale, RCSI's 2026 figures: entrants' Leaving Certificate points "ranged from 554 to 625", HPAT scores "ranged from 170 to 210", and the combined score needed was "734* (random selection)". Those numbers come from the old formula, so do not read them as a 2027 target.

Our view: for an EU school leaver in 2027, the Leaving Certificate now carries more of the combined score than it did. The basis is the change above: the HPAT maximum halves and points are no longer moderated. Keep the HPAT in your plan, since it is still required and still counted, but do not let HPAT practice eat into Leaving Certificate study.

The countercase: if you already hold your Leaving Certificate points from an earlier sitting, the HPAT is the only part of your score you can still change this cycle, so it deserves most of your time.

HPAT-Ireland 2027 dates

From ACER's HPAT-Ireland site and its 2027 information booklet:

The test is "a 2.5-hour online multiple-choice assessment" taken by remote proctoring, and the standard fee is €167. ACER advises medicine applicants to get their CAO number before registering.

Non-EU applicants: statement, Casper and interview

This is the route where writing and interviewing count. RCSI's non-EU school-leaver applicants upload transcripts, references, a personal statement and "Documents which reflect life experience", and sit the Casper test, "online on Sunday, 17 January 2027". RCSI says the Casper score "will be used as part of the shortlisting process to select those who will be invited to interview."

The interview shortlist, per RCSI, ranks you on academic history, references, predicted grades, "A personal statement", extracurricular activities, and "Personal achievements and life experiences". The interview itself:

"There are no technical questions and no ethical questions. The interview is simply an opportunity for us to get to know each applicant a little better and an opportunity for you to display your insight, determination and motivation to study in your chosen discipline."

"Interviews are held using Zoom." RCSI says you may be asked why you want to study medicine and "the steps that you have taken to ensure that this is the right career choice for you."

That makes RCSI's interview a motivation interview, not an MMI. Do not drill ethics stations for it. Drill two answers: why medicine, and what you have done to test that choice. Both should match your statement, because the shortlist read it first.

Constructed example: the steps you took to test your choice

Constructed example, written by us, not a real applicant's answer. Context (invented): a non-EU applicant who volunteered at a clinic.

Weak: "I have always been passionate about medicine and I am a caring person."

Revised: "I spent eight Saturdays at a free eye clinic in my town, checking patients in. The doctor I worked beside saw forty people a morning and still explained each referral twice. That showed me the job is mostly repetition done carefully. I still wanted it, so I took a summer biology course to check I could handle the science."

The revision answers RCSI's actual question, "steps that you have taken", with three actions and one thing learned. The weak version names traits and gives the interviewer nothing to ask about.

Graduate entry in Ireland

EU graduates apply through the CAO and, at RCSI, sit GAMSAT with no interview and no statement. RCSI says that for its 2025 intake "the minimum GAMSAT score on which students were admitted to RCSI in 2025 was 58." Non-EU graduates present GAMSAT or MCAT and "participate in the selection and interview process." The UK graduate-entry medicine personal statement guide compares Limerick's graduate route and the UK schools.

Questions about Irish medicine admissions

Do Irish medical schools interview school leavers?

Not EU school leavers applying through the CAO, per RCSI. Selection is Leaving Certificate points plus HPAT. RCSI interviews mature and non-EU applicants.

Do non-EU applicants need the HPAT?

Not at RCSI: "Non-EU applicants are NOT required to take the HPAT-Ireland examination." ACER says non-EU students "may be exempt" and should check each university.

Is the RCSI interview an MMI?

No. RCSI describes a Zoom interview with "no technical questions and no ethical questions", focused on motivation and the steps you took to test your choice.

Does the HPAT still count for 2027 entry?

Yes. It is still required, but it is "weighted to 150 maximum (down from 300 previously)" from 2027 entry.

Review the writing you send next

For a non-EU applicant, the two-page personal statement is the document that earns the interview. Get a free Quick Review of your medicine personal statement against GradPilot's UCAS medicine rubric, our closest rubric to RCSI's statement. It reads for an evidence-grounded case for medicine and for how your study and experience outside school prepared you, which is what RCSI's shortlist asks about. The rubric catalog lists the other documents you can review.

More guides for applicants outside the UK:

• Australian medicine MMI and UCAT ANZ schools: undergraduate interviews in Australia and New Zealand.
• GEMSAS interviews and preferences: Australia's graduate-entry system.
• Medical school essays hub: every medical application guide.

Sources

Retrieved 7 November 2026, except where noted.

• RCSI, Admissions interviews: which routes interview; interview content; Zoom.
• RCSI, Personal statements: which routes write one; two pages for non-EU.
• RCSI, Medicine (September 2027 start): places; how CAO ranking works.
• RCSI, Medicine: apply (2027 entry): application windows, mature-entry interview, non-EU documents and Casper.
• RCSI, Medicine: entry requirements (2027 entry): points rule, 2026 ranges, 2027 change, HPAT not required for non-EU.
• RCSI, Graduate Entry Medicine: RC101, GAMSAT, non-EU interview.
• ACER, HPAT-Ireland and HPAT-Ireland 2027 Information Booklet (PDF): participating courses, dates, fee, results timing, non-EU exemption.