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UCD Sport Scholarships

The UCD Sport Scholarship can only be awarded where a student has applied for and gained a place on any UCD undergraduate or postgraduate programme. Provisional offers are sent to successful applicants as per the timeline below but are not fully active until the student gains a place in UCD. 

What is the UCD Sport Scholarship Programme?

The UCD Sport Scholarship programme is independent of the Ad Astra Elite Athlete Programme with the exception of the unsuccessful applications for Ad Astra being transferred to the UCD Sport Scholarship applications upon the consent of such applicants. This can be done by ticking a box on your Ad Astra application to allow the transfer if you are unsuccessful. Two separate applications will not be required in this case.

Furthermore, because a student is in receipt of an Ad Astra Elite Athlete scholarship in a particular sport, such an award has no bearing on the inclusion of that sport in the UCD Sport Scholarship list of sports.

The aim of the UCD Sport Scholarship programme is to give talented young people the opportunity of developing their sporting career by offering the highest standards in coaching, training, nutrition, strength and conditioning advice, while also completing their chosen course of study. By combining sports participation with academic work in an ideal environment within the University, a safety net is provided for the student and career prospects are, to a large extent, guaranteed. Therefore, career-threatening injuries or illness or some other unforeseen circumstances do not have the same traumatic impact. The individual is encouraged through judicious balancing of the time available to ensure that neither academic nor sporting interests are compromised.

When can I apply?

Applications for 25/26 entry to UCD will open on 01 February 2025 and close 28 March 2025.

How can I apply?

The link to apply will appear during the opening period on this webpage:

Criteria
  • Sports Scholarships are intended for persons of outstanding sporting ability, and are subject to renewal on an annual basis.
  • The recipient must be prepared to commit him/herself to involvement in the respective UCD sports club.
  • Clubs that offer scholarships compete at a very high level and have to possess the necessary infrastructural components to facilitate a scholarship award.
  • A satisfactory level of academic and sporting progress is essential, if the scholarship is to be renewed on an annual basis. 

Read the below linked document for a full breakdown of the award criteria:

Scholarship Benefits May Include
  • Access to the UCD High Performance Centre.
  • Free pool membership.
  • Access to on-campus accommodation, if required.*
    • We encourage all applicants to apply for accommodation via UCD Residences in the first instance. *UCD Sport is very limited in the amount of accommodation rooms we can offer. These must be paid for the applicants themselves.
  • Bursary, the value of each is assessed on an individual basis.
  • Sport medicine and testing facilities.
  • Reduced physiotherapy costs.
  • Travel to national and international competitions.
  • Academic support and flexibility.
Further Information
  • When a sports scholarship application is received, it is passed on to the respective club for processing. Candidates may be shortlisted and invited to attend for interview and / or trial. Final decisions in regard to Sports Scholarship awards usually rest with the clubs concerned.
  • The value and benefits of each sports scholarship is assessed on an individual basis. The assessments are conducted by UCD Sport and the relevant UCD club.

Application Timeline for 25/26 entry

  • 01 February 2025

    Applications Open

  • 28 March 2025

    Applications Close

  • 01 April - end of May 2025

    Shortlisting commences. All applicants will be notified of their status (unsuccessful or due for interview) by the end of May.
    *Note: Soccer, Rugby, GAA applicants will be communicated directly by those clubs and may not align with this timeline.

  • End of July 2025

    Interviews (via Zoom) will take place at the end of July and students must be available to attend. Exact date and time will be communicated to applicants a few weeks prior.

  • August 2025

    All students who are interviewed will be notified of their outcome in August 2024. Those offered a scholarship will be asked to provisionally accept by signing a Code of Practice. Some students may be put on a reserve list.

Scholarship Links

Darragh McElhinney Scholarships
General info on all three scholarship programmes.
Paddy Small Graduate Sport Scholarship
The Graduate Sports Scholarship is for students who are competing at the highest sporting level while completing a post graduate programme.
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Hannah McLoughlin Ad Astra Elite Sports Scholarship
The Ad Astra Elite Sports Scholarship is open to those who compete at the highest level in their sport.

Frequently Asked Questions

Applications are made entirely online. The link to apply will only appear at the top of this page during the application opening period. No matter what sport you play, it is the same application form you submit. Please submit only one application per sport.

To apply, you need to create an application using an email and password. You can go back in and out of the application to update it until you are ready to submit it.  

All future correspondence, including updates on your application status, will be sent to the email address you use to create your application.

Problems accessing your online application? When logging in to an existing account, enter the UCD Unique ID that was sent to the email account you registered with (it begins with 'A') in the 'Email Address, ID Number or Connect Username' section, followed by your password.

Unsure if you have a UCD unique ID? To access the applications section, you would have had to either log in or created a profile. Search your email account (including spam) for the address 'noreply@ucd.ie' to find your username details.

Forgotten your password? Click on a link that says 'Retrieve your Password' and it will ask if you would like the password sent to your email account or you can retrieve it via the security question you made when creating the account.

Are contact details enough?
No. We require written references to be submitted in PDF format and this should contain the name/address/telephone number of the referee.

Who needs to supply a reference?

We require two references, one academic and one sporting.

Academic reference: A reference is required from the school the student is currently attending. This can be from the headmaster/headmistress or year head. It can also be from a Career Guidance teacher.

The reference should be short, accurate and refer to the academic abilities of the candidate.

Sporting reference: A reference is required from the coach or National Governing Body and should be short, accurate and refer to the sporting achievements of the applicant and indicate their future potential.

The points concession only applies for Ad Astra Academy Elite Sport Scholarships.

Yes. But you don’t actually have to apply for both.

If you are unsuccessful in your Ad Astra application, you can consent for your application to be transferred over to be considered for a UCD Sport Scholarship by ticking a box at the end of the Ad Astra application. A separate application won't be required in this case.

Unfortunately some UCD sports clubs are only currently structured for social activity or compete only in intervarsity and lower level leagues. They don’t have the funding or infrastructure to award sports scholarships to members.

See our UCD Sport Scholarship Award Criteria (PDF | 86.9KB) for more information.

Contact UCD Sport

Sports Office, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.
T: +353 1 716 2183 | E: sport@ucd.ie | Location Map(opens in a new window)