QUESTION: I am living in Latvia but hope to travel to study for an MBA in Ireland. The university I applied to in Dublin has informed me that I require a level-eight qualification in the relevant discipline. Will my degree from Latvia be enough to qualify?
ANSWER:This question is commonly raised by prospective students seeking to come to Ireland to study. A level-eight degree is awarded by universities, institutes of technology and some private colleges in Ireland to students following three to four years of undergraduate studies.
From the perspective of securing a place in an Irish third-level institution, the best place to seek advice on your existing qualification is the Naric website (naric.ie), hosted by Ireland's qualifications authority, Quality and Qualifications Ireland.
It is part of an international network and provides information and advice for Irish nationals seeking to study or work abroad and – as in your case – foreign nationals coming to Ireland to work or study.
The website holds details of more than 650 qualifications from 100-plus countries. Qualifications are listed in four categories: school education, further education, higher education and professional education.
Each country is identified by its national flag, and the main qualifications for each country are listed. You can download a comparability statement for your qualification, if it is listed. This is advisory information about your qualification in relation to the Irish national framework of qualifications.
Regarding your own specific qualification, your degree – a Bakalaura diploma from Latvia – is comparable to an award at level eight in the Irish system or an honours undergraduate degree.
Although you meet the academic entry requirement, there will be other criteria set by the college you are seeking to study in, such as English-language competency, student visa status, relevant experience and other subject-specific requirements.
Although the Naric website will confirm the equivalency of your existing qualification, it does not provide any advice about the detail of the qualifications you already hold. You will have to collate this information yourself, and attach it with your application to your intended college.
If you cannot identify your particular qualification on the website, you can contact Naric. It might be the case that your qualification is relatively new and has not as yet been reviewed. In such cases, Naric will research new foreign academic qualifications to determine the comparable level of that qualification in the Irish system.
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