About the HPAT Exam

The HPAT®-Ireland Exam (Health Professions Admission Test-Ireland) is an admissions test used by Irish Medical Schools for entry into Undergraduate Medicine. This includes undergraduate medicine courses in Trinity College Dublin, University College Dublin, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Trinity College Dublin and NUI Galway. Those applying for a place in undergraduate medicine on grounds of mature years must also sit the exam. The exam is also used by University of Limerick for entry into two postgraduate programmes: MSc Speech and Language Therapy (SLT) and MSc Occupational Therapy (OT). The HPAT®-Ireland Exam measures a candidate’s logical reasoning and problem-solving skills as well as non-verbal reasoning and the ability to understand the thoughts, behaviour and/or intentions of people. The test results will complement the Leaving Certificate Examination assessment for selecting applicants for admission to an undergraduate Medical School programme.

The HPAT Ireland Exam (Health Professions Admission Test-Ireland) is an admissions test used by Irish Medical Schools for entry into Undergraduate Medicine. This includes undergraduate medicine courses in Trinity College Dublin, University College Dublin, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Trinity College Dublin and NUI Galway. Those applying for a place in undergraduate medicine on grounds of mature years must also sit the exam. The exam is also used by University of Limerick for entry into two postgraduate programmes: MSc Speech and Language Therapy (SLT) and MSc Occupational Therapy (OT). The HPAT®-Ireland Exam measures a candidate’s logical reasoning and problem-solving skills as well as non-verbal reasoning and the ability to understand the thoughts, behaviour and/or intentions of people. The test results will complement the Leaving Certificate.

The HPAT Ireland Exam is a 2½ hour exam. It consists of three sections which are separately timed. There are no rest breaks between sections.

• Section 1 – Logical Reasoning and Problem Solving includes 42 questions (60 minutes). These questions are drawn from a wide variety of general sources and are based on a brief text and/or piece of information presented graphically to assess your ability to draw logical conclusions. This section is worth 40% of the marks allocated.
• Section 2 – Interpersonal Understanding includes 42 questions (50 minutes). This section provides a series of text passages, narratives and dialogues in which you must draw what the thoughts and feelings of characters. This is worth 40% of the marks allocated.
• Section 3 – Non-Verbal Reasoning includes 30 questions (40 minutes). These questions are based on patterns or sequences of shapes and are designed to assess your ability to reason in the abstract and solve problems in non-verbal contexts. This is worth 20% of the marks allocated.

Candidates applying to the MSc Occupational Therapy and the MSc Speech and Language Therapy at the University of Limerick are required to sit a 1 hour Written English component which involves completing two mini essays. The maximum possible Written English Score is 100. This is a separate score and is not used in calculating the Overall Score for Section 1, 2, and 3.

• The official HPAT exam has took place online via remote proctoring in 2023. It is likely to be delivered online again in 2024. The exam usually takes place in February each year.  Find out more on the official ACER webiste

Step 1: CAO Number

Before registering for the HPAT®-Ireland exam, all Medicine applicants (including undergraduates and UL postgraduate courses for SLT or OT) must first get their CAO number. This number is required to successfully complete your HPAT®-Ireland exam registration. To get a CAO number you need to apply online at www.cao.ie

Step 2: ACER Website

In order to sit the official exam in February, students will need to register on the official ACER website: https://hpat-ireland.acer.org/ Registration opens in early November and usually closes in mid-late January.

• HPAT Ireland registration fee was €152.80 in 2023 (+ €6 for UL candidates) if you completed your registration before the deadline in mid-January. The was an additional €70 late fee if you missed the deadline and €105 exceptional late fee.

Your admission ticket which includes details of your test details usually becomes available one week before your official HPAT®-Ireland exam. More information on this will be available in the Test Taker Information Booklet on the official website closer to the test date.

Permitted items

According to the official HPAT Information booklet test takers were permitted to have:

• A small erasable whiteboard and pen, OR 2 pieces of A4 sized scratch paper, a pencil, eraser & sharpener
• Acceptable current and photo-bearing identification document
• A clear water bottle (no labels attached)
• Mirror (hand held is fine) or other reflective device

HPAT scores are valid for one year only.  HPAT-Ireland scores can be used for admission to a course ONLY in the same year in which the course is due to commence. For example, results from HPAT – Ireland 2023 can be used for courses beginning in 2023 but not 2024. Don’t register for HPAT- Ireland exam unless you are planning to apply for a course commencing in that year.

It will vary per section, but here is a rough guide:

• Section 1: 42Q/60mins (1 min 40 seconds per question)
• Section 2: 42Q/50 mins (1 min 15 seconds per question)
• Section 3: 30Q/40mins (1 min 20 seconds per question)

However, we would not advise that you time yourself for every single question. Some passages will have several questions which will take longer to complete, while others may only have one and obviously they will take less time to complete. So we would suggest that you use these times as a loose guideline without being too strict. Remember that it’s unlikely you will finish the entire exam so you should aim to strike a balance between accuracy and efficiency.