Irish universities U-turn on previously rejected A-levels

Trinity College Dublin is one of the seven universities which will now accept previously rejected Northern Ireland A Levels

The Republic of Ireland's universities will accept results of four Northern Irish A-level subjects they had previously rejected.

The change will come into effect for students starting in September 2018.

The subjects are Software Systems Development, Moving Image Arts, Digital Technology and Environmental Technology.

The A-Levels are set by the Council for Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA).

Some pupils in Northern Ireland studying them previously had to drop plans to apply to university in the Republic of Ireland.

The chief executive of CCEA, Justin Edwards, has written to schools to inform them of the change.

"The seven universities from the Republic of Ireland, that form the Irish Universities Association (IUA), will now update their websites and publications to take account of this," he wrote.

CCEA is the Northern Ireland body that sets and runs exams, while the IUA represents the seven Irish universities.

They are Trinity College Dublin, University College Cork, NUI Galway, Maynooth University, University College Dublin, University of Limerick and Dublin City University.

The four A-levels in question are all accepted by universities in the UK.