Based on their high points in the Leaving Cert, 76 first-year students at NUI Galway will be awarded Entrance Scholarships at a special ceremony on Saturday, 2 February, 2008. Each student will receive a cheque for €1,600 and a specially designed scroll to mark their achievement in last summer's exams.

Entrance Scholarships are given annually to all NUI Galway new entrants who reached a minimum of 560 points in their Leaving Cert (590 in Medicine and Health Sciences). Among the Entrance Scholarship Awardees, 24 reached the maximum 600 points. The number of students achieving such high points is growing every year.

This year, the scholarships will be awarded to students from 51 individual schools, large and small, throughout the country. The winners represent 16 counties including Armagh, Clare, Cork, Down, Donegal, Dublin, Galway, Kerry, Kildare, Laois, Mayo, Meath, Roscommon, Sligo, Tipperary and Westmeath.

NUI Galway President Dr. Iognáid Ó Muircheartaigh, who will present the cheques and a specially designed scroll at the event, said, "The University strives constantly to support and promote academic excellence across all the disciplines. The Entrance Scholarship ceremony is an opportunity to give special recognition to our first-year students who have already proved academic prowess through their Leaving Cert results. It is also a chance to give due credit to their parents and secondary school teachers for their contribution to such success".

The ceremony will also feature 50 other individual College/Faculty awards and prizes.

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