Medical schools have announced changes to the entry requirements for studying medicine following concerns that some students may have found a way to practise for aptitude tests known as the Hpat, or Health Professions Admission Test.
Under the admissions process for medical schools, applicants are required to combine their Leaving Certificate results with those from the Hpat which was introduced in 2009 to assess skills deemed important for medicine. Those the Hpat assesses include reasoning, problem-solving and interpersonal skills.
While the 2½-hour test was initially envisaged as one which candidates could not study for, there is now an extensive private tuition industry where students can spend up to €800 over 15 weeks to prepare for the assessment.
The Hpat is marked out of a total of 300 points, which is added to a candidate’s Leaving Cert score. For example, a student who gets 500 points in the Leaving Cert and 200 points in the Hpat gets a combined score of 700 points.
About 3,000 students take the test each year, which is required to study undergraduate medicine at the University of Galway, the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Trinity College Dublin, UCC and UCD. University of Limerick also requires the Hpat for entry to its master’s degree in occupational therapy and speech and language therapy.
Under the revised plans, the maximum points the Hpat can deliver is to be reduced to 150 points.
The changes are being announced now for the 2027 intake to allow potential applicants to make choices in advance of their two-year Leaving Certificate cycle. The changes will not affect those sitting their Leaving Certificates in 2025 or 2026.
The Hpat was introduced under then minister for education Mary Hanafin, following concern that only those scoring very high Leaving Cert points were guaranteed entry to medicine. She said at the time that students would no longer need a “perfect Leaving Cert” to enter medicine.
However, concern grew that students who are able to afford extra support for their exams and Hpat tests are at a significant advantage when it comes to studying medicine.
Latest Higher Education Authority data, for example, show about 33 per cent of medicine students are from affluent backgrounds, compared with 18 per cent of students overall. Only 3 per cent of medicine students are from disadvantaged backgrounds, compared to 11 per cent overall.
Announcing the modifications on Friday, the Irish Universities Association said the primary requirement to present both the Leaving Certificate result and Hpat result for the calculation of points for medicine will not change.
[ CAO 2025: A guide to some lesser-known coursesOpens in new window ]
“However, the way in which both Leaving Cert and Hpat points are counted will change. Leaving Certificate points above 550 will no longer be moderated, and the maximum possible Hpat points will be reduced from 300 to 150.”
From 2027, the maximum combined Leaving Certificate and Hpat points for Medicine will be 775, being 625 from the Leaving Certificate and 150 from the Hpat.
This will differ from the current maximum of 865 points made up of 565 points from the Leaving Certificate and 300 from the Hpat.
The existing rule that the Hpat must be taken in the year of Cental Applications Office application will continue. Applicants will continue to need to meet the minimum entry requirements as well as the existing 480 points minimum requirement, all in the same sitting of the Leaving Certificate.
