Education Gaeilge

This is an employment-focused degree that responds to teacher shortages in the secondary school sector.

The BEd Gaeilge is a 4-year degree that will fully qualify graduates as post-primary teachers of Gaeilge and one other subject without requiring any additional credits or postgraduate qualification.

Long-established, and ever-growing links between UCC and the Gaeltacht areas on its doorstep provide ready-made centres of excellence for teaching and learning of Gaeilge. Embedded features of Gaeltacht and Erasmus residencies during Years 2 and 3 facilitate immersive language exposure, and ensure that on graduation the student will have completed all Teaching Council requirements. Gaeltacht residencies will benefit from the Department of the Gaeltacht subsidies. Education work placements with UCC’s network of school affiliations, in years 2, 3 and 4, account for a significantly high proportion of credits, serving to position graduates strongly for employment.

See also BEd Gaeilge Scholarships/Scoláireachtaí Bed Gaeilge for information on BEd Gaeilge scholarships.

Non-EU applicants are expected to have educational qualifications of a standard equivalent to the Irish Leaving Certificate. In addition, where such applicants are non-native speakers of the English language they must satisfy the university of their competency in the English language.

To verify if you meet the minimum academic and language requirements visit our qualification comparison page and refer to our International Office page for more information.

In the Irish educational system at present there is a shortage of teachers of Irish and of the other subjects offered in this degree. This is recognised by the Department of Education and Skills in the Teacher Supply Action Plan 2018, which encourages teacher-training degrees ‘which qualify teachers in two subject areas’ including those subjects offered by this degree: Irish, Mathematics, French, German, Spanish, and Italian.

Teachers of these subjects are in such demand not only in English-speaking schools. Gaelcholáistí are experiencing shortages of teachers qualified to teach second subjects through Irish. Both shortages are addressed through this BEd, and graduates can expect a high employability profile.