University Placement

Students taking the NCUK International Foundation Year (IFY) or NCUK Graduate Diploma courses at DIFC are automatically part of the DIFC-NCUK placement system for university entrance.

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Individual and group counselling

During the course, you will be assigned your own tutor. You will have a weekly group tutorial and an individual tutorial once every few weeks. You will be given university counselling advice by tutors and the Head of Student Services regarding university choices. This includes:

Career planning
Choosing the right course for you
Selecting the right university for you

Meeting the universities and higher education institutions

In addition to receiving this advice, you are provided with opportunities for direct contact with the universities to find out more.

University Counselling Fairs: Partner universities are invited to come to the college and give presentations to students. We host open fair events at which students can ask questions on an individual basis.

Open Days and visits: Individual universities visit the college regularly. You can also visit the universities themselves on jointly organised open days.

In 2009 DIFC hosted its first joint Irish-UK university counselling event with a separate event for the Irish Institutes of Technology.

University applications

DIFC arranges a set of dates and deadlines in conjunction with NCUK for the UK applications and with the Irish universities and ITs for the Irish applications.

You will be guided through the application process by tutors and the Head of Student Services and given support with completing forms and writing personal statements (UK only).

You are allowed to choose up to 3 courses. Once applications are completed, UK applications are sent to the NCUK Head Office and the process is managed there. For Irish applications, DIFC sends out the applications and deals directly with the universities.

When you have received your conditional offer letters, you will be asked to select a first choice and a second choice - so by the time you sit your exams, you should be holding two conditional offers.

When the official NCUK results come out, students who meet the grades required on their first choice conditional offer letter will automatically go to their first choice course. Those who do not achieve the required grades will be matched with their second choice. If there is a match, they will go there. If the student fails to reach the grades required by either course, they will be put through clearing and the most suitable course will be found from a range of universities, Institutes of Technology and private colleges.

Success: This system has successfully provided a pathway to university entrance for many years. Students have found places at a wide range of institutions and all students have been placed within a course which suits their aspirations. For the majority of students this is on a degree or masters course.

University Open Day
University Options

Student Placement

Group of DIFC students on visting the National University if Ireland, Maynooth - November 2011

DIFC students on a visit to NUI Galway - March 2009

IFC College work with students in order to provide advice and support in helping students to chose their university and course choice. This is achieved through the organising of counseling fairs and college open days over the academic year. In March 2009 students visited NUI Galway, as part of the day students attended a presentation held by Brian Hussey from the International Office and joined a campus tour where DIFC students had opportunity to explore the campus and its facilities.

Guaranteed Places

On successful completion of an NCUK programme, DIFC guarantees to place successful students on an appropriate university course in Ireland, UK or Australia. DIFC work with many Universities including , DCU, NUIG, NUIM,UCC, UL, and many Institutes including, DIT, DKIT, WIT, AIT and GMIT. view our partner universities