r/HPAT

Hi everyone!
I’m an EU student (over 23) planning my path toward studying Undergraduate Medicine in Ireland.
My current roadmap is to move to Dublin, take a QQI Level 5 Pre-University Science course (PLC)—I’m currently looking closely at Plunket College—and apply through the CAO Mature Student route alongside taking the HPAT.
Since I come from a non-traditional background, I’m building a strong foundation beforehand (studying science fundamentals autonomously and getting ready for the HPAT well in advance). My target is to achieve 8 Distinctions in the PLC while getting clinical/volunteering experience for potential MMIs and my Statement of Interest.
I’d love to hear from anyone who has taken this route, or who is currently studying Medicine/Science via a PLC:

1. PLC workload & Distinctions: How manageable did you find getting Distinctions across all modules? How supportive were the tutors with feedback on draft assignments?
2. HPAT Preparation: How did you balance HPAT prep alongside the continuous assessment of the PLC?
3. Mature Student Applicants: For those who got in through the mature entry route, what made the biggest difference in your application or interview?
4. Backup Plans: Did anyone use Biosciences or Nursing as a progression route or stepping stone?
   Any insights, tips, or experiences would be hugely appreciated! Thanks in advance!

Tbh i have a weird issue with S2.I average around the 90th percentile for S1 and S3.But for S2 I only average 55th percentile,across the 4 full mocks I've done.But when I do isolated S2 sub mocks,I do very well in raw score and percentile,getting 31/42,the 95th percentile,which on a full mock equates to an even higher percentile.

So I don't think it's an issue of the cohort of people in the sub and full mocks,but rather a me thing.

So for some reason when I do a full mock,possibly due to fatigue from S1,my S2 scores drop off a cliff,compared to the raw scores of other in full mocks and S2 sub mocks.

So I think I am good at S2,but then on the full mocks I'm somehow to exhausted for it and do trash compared to how I usually am.

Any ideas on how to fix this?

Hi All,

I was wondering if anyone could provide some insight into the competitiveness for mature entry for medicine. I got 578 points in my lc but it doesn't seem that will be enough any more for direct entry. I graduated with a 2:2 (59%) in chemistry. I also entered through the HEAR scheme, not sure if that's relevant.

I know this isn't enough for grad med so it seems that the mature route is my only option. I was just wondering if it seems possible to get in given my background? I have a lot of experience working different jobs and I have a lot of volunteering experience involving poverty alleviation etc. I am also currently working in a pharmacy to save up money, if that would be relevant.

If this doesn't seem to be enough, would anyone be aware of what type of experiences might be necessary to apply?

Thanks in advance.

Hey guys,
I sat the hpat this year and when before i sat it i really wanted to know how peoples mocks compared to their actual results so heres a breakdown of my mocks. I started early fifth year but only just did the odd bits. I properly started in in june and then paused until September but 70% of the practice i did was within december to January.

Section mocks :
Section 1:
Mock 1: 84th percentile (november)
Mock 2: 80th percentile (November)
Mock 3: 74th percentile (February)

Section 2:
Mock 1: 33rd percentile (January)
Mock 2: 94th percentile (january)
Mock 3: 97th percentile (febuary)

Section 3:
Mock 1: 65th percentile (January)
Mock 2: 74th percentile (January)
Mock 3: 89th percentile (January)

Full mocks:
Diagnostic: 50th percentile (febuary 2024)
Mock 1: 63rd percentile (oct 2024)
Mock 2: 46th percentile (oct 2024)
Mock 3: 62nd percentile (june 2025)
Mock 4: 65th percentile (june 2025)
Mock 5: 39th percentile (june 2025)
Mock 6: 76th percentile (June 2025)
Mock 7: 25th percentile (September 2025)
Mock 8: 64th percentile (nov 2025)
Mock 9: 26th percentile (december 2025)
Mock 10: 40th percentile (December 2025)
Mock 11: 82nd percentile (jan 2026)
Mock 12: 83rd percentile (jan 2026)
Mock 13: 82nd percentile (jan 2026)
Mock 14: 84rd percentile (jan 2026)
Mock 15: 97th percentile (feb 2026)
Full simulated mock: 56th percentile (jan 2026)
Full trial mock: 81st percentile (jan 2026)

Acer test 1: 88th percentile (jan 2026)
Acer test 2: 64th percentile (jan 2026)
Acer test 3: 95th percentile (feb 2026)
Acer test 4: 94th percentile (feb 2026)
Additional practice q’s 2: 66th percentile (jan 2026)
Additional practice q’s 1: 91st percentile (feb 2026)

Actual results: 92nd percentile (183 points)
Sec 1: 59 sec 2: 60 sec 3: 67

Lmk if you have any questions and I hope this helps xx

For my A levels I did English, chem, bio and maths and got A* in all of them but in English I got a B (didn’t study lol).

My question is that i also did an epq which got an A*. Will CAO give me points equivalent from getting the C in english as 4th A level or give me 24 points from achieving A* in EPQ?

Basically will it prioritise the 4 a levels option or choose the option that will provide me with the highest points possible which is the 3 A levels 1 EPQ ??

I have maths which is 25 points extra and my fourth AS grade gives me 18 points

Btw 2027 entry and the hpat is now out of 150 and theres no scaling of points

Since first round offers are coming out in 2 weeks, does anyone have any predictions for this year’s point cutoffs in any of the schools? Not sure how much or if the points will at all drop due to the increase in places (+Limerick) since there’s also such a large increase in applicants. What’re your best predictions?

I need people to tell me what points they got with non priority dare and if they got in or not. Please mention the year and the universities on your CAO. I'm tryna see if I:

a) Have a chance of getting medicine
b) Have a chance of getting RCSI

ck in February, it was announced that there had been a massive increase in the number of people applying for medicine through the CAO.

Then on Thursday, the grad med offers came out and the points for pretty much every course went up by quite a bit.

Since grad med applicants also apply through the CAO, do we think a significant portion of the reported increase in medicine applicants/first preferences was actually coming from grad med rather than undergrad applicants?

Basically, could the big increase we heard about earlier in the year have been partly driven by the increase in grad med demand, meaning the increase for undergrad medicine might not be as large as it initially seemed?