Are you an American high school student considering using your four years of undergrad to skip out on the U.S.A. entirely? Don’t you wish you had a series of posts explaining how to apply to European universities as a U.S. student? Well, look no further. Today, we’re going to focus on Scottish and Irish colleges.
What are the testing requirements for applicants looking to make that hop across the Atlantic? The UK academic/testing system is different from our own, and can be confusing for an American to understand at first. Fortunately, I’m here to translate everything for you. Read on to find out.
(And when you’re done with this post, you can also peep my previous entries on applying to institutions of higher learning in England and Canada!)
Article Contents
1. Watch this article as a video
9. Conclusion
Video version of this article:
University of Edinburgh: American Testing Requirements
First up is the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. Are you intrigued by the “Athens of the North,” as Edinburgh is sometimes called?
SAT and ACT
Well, according to their website, the University of Edinburgh does not necessarily require the SAT or ACT—those tests are just two of the paths you COULD follow to fulfill your application requirements.
UoE wants you to submit results from three standardized tests. Here are some examples of what that could look like:
ACT score of 27 plus two AP scores of 4+
SAT score of 1290+ (650+ in Evidence-Based Reading and Writing and 620+ in Math) plus two AP scores of 4+
3 AP scores of 4+
As you can see from that last example, if you wanted to forego the SAT or the ACT entirely, then you could instead take three APs and get 4s or 5s on all three of the accompanying exams.
The University of Edinburgh does not Superscore the ACT, but they say they will Superscore the new and old SAT. (At this point, there is no “old”/paper SAT that you can take any more—so really, what they mean is that they Superscore the new/Digital SAT.)
They also note that the optional SAT and ACT essays are NOT required—which is pretty standard these days.
By the way—and this goes for ALL of the schools in this post—when UoE lists a minimum score (e.g. 1290+ on the SAT), that's just the minimum to apply. That does NOT mean you are guaranteed entry if you get an SAT or an ACT test score above that minimum.
AP requirements
The University of Edinburgh acknowledges that not all students may have access to taking AP exams. And so, for those who don’t have access to AP tests and whose high school doesn’t use an AP curriculum, UoE propose an alternative possible point of entry.
Option #1 is a strong academic transcript:
A minimum GPA of 3.3 on a 4.0 scale (and no grade below a C during your Junior and Senior years)
If you’re applying to a major at UoE that requires a score of 4 in a specific AP subject, then they want to see a B+ in your school’s corresponding Honors classes (or Honors equivalent)
In the cases where UoE requires an AP grade of 5, they require an A in your Honors classes or equivalent
Most of the time, if you’re not including AP scores with your application, Edinburgh will also request an ACT with a composite score of 27+, or an overall SAT score of 1290+
For the SAT, UoE calls for a minimum of 650 in the Reading Writing section and a minimum of 620 in Math
Option #2: if you are an an IB student, the IB exams could take the place of APs.
You’ll also want to use UoE’s website to check out the specific degree program that you have in mind. It’s quite possible your intended “major” requires a specific AP exam.
University of Glasgow as a U.S. Applicant
And now for our second school, which is also in fair Scotland: the University of Glasgow, or UoG for short.
According to their admissions page for Americans, UoG evaluates UK applicants according to the “A-level” courses that British pupils take at the end of high school. The grades you receive in those classes determine which program you can study at certain universities throughout the United Kingdom.
Of course, if you're coming from The States, you're not doing British A-levels, right? You're instead in the realm of the SAT, ACT, APs, and sometimes International Baccalaureate.
But as a US student you’ve still got options. Here are the different minimum credentials you could fulfill to be considered a valid applicant to the University of Glasgow:
SAT (1280+) plus 2 AP’s. The AP scores you’ll need to hit depend on your intended course of study’s A-Level requirements.
ACT (27+ Composite) plus 2 AP’s. The required AP scores depend on your program’s A-Level requirements.
3 AP tests: ditto—the scores you need to get on the exams depend on your program’s A-Level requirement.
Required minimum GPA and grades in mandatory high school classes—contact your program of study to find out specifics.
In each of these cases, you can consult your specific degree program’s page here. The scores and/or previous course history the admissions committee wants to see for an intended Biomedical Engineering major are going to differ from the ones they desire from an intended Classics major.
American Interested in University of St. Andrews?
Before we shift our sights to Ireland, let’s take a gander at our third and final Scottish university. Every year, I have a good number of students who really, really want to apply here. So it’s helpful to know what the requirements are!
St. Andrews’ website essentially explains that they are temporarily—as in, for some class years—test optional. So, if you are currently a high school junior or senior (graduating class 2025 or 2026), you are NOT required to submit SAT/ACT scores. If you are currently a sophomore or younger (graduating class of 2027 and beyond), they have NOT specified any test policy for you yet.
If you do submit scores, the St. Andrews admissions folks looks for the following:
ACT: composite score of 28+ (writing section optional). Applicants are welcome to submit all of their ACT test scores. “We will consider the highest scores submitted for each section across multiple testing dates,” they explain.
Digital SAT: score of 1320+ (essay optional). “We will assess the SAT total score out of 1600 and will focus on individual sub-scores in a holistic manner and within the context of the overall application.”
St. Andrews will superscore both the ACT the SAT.
It seems they do want all your scores, but they're not technically requiring it. In other words: it’s a score choice policy.
They also mention AP, IB, and SAT subject tests (which are no more). The website states that these scores “are used for admissions purposes only, and no credit for advanced entry or exemptions will be awarded.”
What’s my hot take on Saint Andrews? If you are currently a junior or senior, you don't necessarily have to submit a score. But if you're a class of 2027 and beyond, this school is not test optional for you unless they explicitly extend their policies. You should work under the assumption that you’ll need to submit a 28 composite ACT (minimum) or 1320 SAT score (minimum)!
Trinity College Dublin: SAT and ACT Minimums
Now that we’ve finished our brief tour of Scotland, let’s hop on over to Ireland, which I've heard is a very fun place to study as an undergrad! The first school we're going to talk about is Trinity College Dublin, located in—well, the name says it all.
If you are in the class of 2025—i.e. you’re graduating this spring—then Trinity is test optional for you. But their website does NOT specify that they are test optional for anyone else. So if you are a current junior, sophomore, freshman, or younger, you’d best assume you’re going to have to fulfill the testing requirements listed on their website.
Speaking of which—those reqs are:
SAT: 1250-1400+ on any two of the Critical Reading, Math and Writing sections, and no section score less than 500
ACT: composite score of 27-32+
I’m not sure why they include both a minimum and a range, but they do.
As with the other schools on today’s list, you’ll want to research your intended program of study at TCD to see if you’re looking at any specific course and score requirements.
University College Dublin: How to Get in if You're from the USA
To continue on our Ireland kick, let’s now visit University College Dublin, aka UCD.
The school’s website for U.S. applicants explains that you must meet the following criteria to apply:
Cumulative GPA 3.2 out of 4.0 unweighted.
They consider ACT or SAT scores.
They also consider AP, IB subject exams, and college or university GPA (if you have attended some university already).
In keeping with the trend we’ve seen with other UK schools, the specifics of the requirements within each of these categories depends on which concentration you want to study (and you can consult the list of requirements here—just command-F or scroll to your concentration). There’s a lot of variation therein:
For some courses, you won’t need to send in an SAT or ACT test score at all—but this is typically counterbalanced by a higher GPA requirement.
In other cases, you simply cannot apply without an SAT/ACT score.
And the latter include some programs where you send an SAT or ACT test score…and must hit a minimum score.
Or, there might be a minimum GPA requirement, but that minimum GPA score will be lower than if you only submit a GPA and not test scores.
Some subjects at UCD might even require a couple of AP tests as well in specific subjects, along with specific minimum scores you have to meet on those exams.
To complicate this even further, some programs of study offer you two paths—while some do not. You won’t know ‘til you consult your specific program of interest!
What Scores Do You Need for the University of Galway?
Let's proceed, shall we, to our third Irish university: the University of Galway! There are some eccentricities with this school’s admissions reqs that not all Americans might know how to navigate, so I’m breaking it down in detail.
I’ll walk you through the process you’ll follow to research what scores you need in order to qualify as an applicant to your major of interest:
Proceed to Galway’s list of courses of study and scroll or command-F to the degree you want to pursue. Click on it.
You’ll then be given a number next to “Entry Points,” which corresponds to the minimum “Irish Leaving Points” score for your major. (Basically, in the Irish academic system, there's a major culmination of very rigorous tests you have to take towards the end of high school. You earn a certain number of points on those tests—something like the English A-levels.) These are also known as “Irish leaving cert” or “Irish leaving certificate points.”
Once you’ve got that number (minimum Irish Leaving Points), you’ll then jump over to this second webpage, which contains a chart that converts a certain number of Entry Points/Cert Leaving Points to their equivalent in the form of SAT, ACT, or APs.
If you want to see me walk you through an example or two, check out the University of Galway section of the video I made on this topic!
University of Limerick: United States Admissions
Last but not least, we approach the University of Limerick, also in Ireland.
The long and short of it is that this university does require an SAT or an ACT test score from you as an American applicant. But the specific score minimums, just like many of the other schools on this list, will depend on the specific program you want to study.
Here’s how you’re going to figure out that info.
1. The admissions team made a handy dandy PDF spelling it all out.
2. Proceed to the second page of the document and look at the table. Here, all prospective concentrations are divided into what they call “Bands”—which essentially means tiers of competitiveness.
3. Find your area of study.
For instance, maybe you want to apply to the Performing Arts major. That would fall into Band 1. You’re going to need to do an audition. Then, you’ll need a GPA of 3.0 and an SAT minimum of 1090 and an ACT minimum of 22.
By contrast, if you’re a prospective Computer Science major, that falls into Band 2. You’re looking at that same GPA minimum of 3.0, but an SAT minimum of 1190 or an ACT minimum of 24.
You get the idea!
Conclusion
Today we reviewed the testing requirements for seven awesome universities…which are located in Europe, but where you can still speak English!
If you found today’s post helpful, I strongly recommend checking out my installments on Canadian universities and English universities, too.
And regardless of which country you’re hoping to spend your uni years in, I can help make sure you get admitted! My highly personalized SAT/ACT prep and admissions essay packages will elevate your application.
