The Irish Universities Association (IUA) announced that Irish universities with medical schools are modifying the calculations of points for undergraduate admissions through the Central Applications Office (CAO).
Applicants to study medicine are currently required to sit the Health Professions Admission Test (HPAT) in addition to the Leaving Cert.
And the points achieved in the exams are combined with the HPAT score to give an overall total, which is used to determine if they have reached enough points for certain medicine programs in Ireland.
Under the current system, the HPAT is marked out of 300, and Leaving Cert points of 550 and above are moderated, meaning they are adjusted up to a maximum of 565 points, and the maximum possible score is 865.
However, when the new system with the changes comes into effect, Leaving Cert points will no longer be moderated and the HPAT will be marked out of 150 instead of 300.
Therefore, the new maximum score will be 775, with 150 points from the HPAT and 625 points from the Leaving Cert.
The changes are being introduced as a result of the significant ongoing increase in the number of medical places for CAO applicants since 2022.
By next year, over 200 extra places will have become available across all undergraduate medicine programmes, including through a new programme at the University of Limerick.
They said: "In addition, following the revised Leaving Certificate grading scale and points scale in 2017, significant changes have taken place in overall points profiles across the Leaving Certificate cohort.
"In addition, the Leaving Certificate has proven to be a stronger predictor of performance in Medicine degree programmes.
"The universities now have well established supplementary admissions pathways such as DARE, HEAR and mature entry routes to support access to medical education by more diverse student profiles, as well as through the Graduate Entry to Medicine routes."
The new changes will not be applied until 2027 to facilitate secondary school students' decision-making at the commencement of their senior cycle school programmes in autumn 2025.
The IUA said: "The existing scheme for calculating points (Leaving Cert plus HPAT) will not change until 2027.
"Applicants are reminded to make sure they are aware of any school-specific eligibility requirements for medicine programmes."
CHANGES APPLY TO SIX UNIVERSITIES
This means that students applying to study medicine through the portal from 2027 onwards will still be required to present Leaving Cert and HPAT results.
The minimum requirement of 480 points achieved in the same sitting of the Leaving Cert will also remain.
It will apply to all Irish, EU and UK students.
Irish Universities Association confirmed that the changes will apply to the University of Galway, the University of Limerick, Trinity College Dublin, the University College Cork, the University College Dublin and the RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences.
Further HPAT and CAO application details will be available in the normal timeline.