Disciplines beyond medicine · veterinary
UCD DN300 — five-year graduate entry to veterinary medicine
The only route into veterinary medicine anywhere that uses the GAMSAT and does not require a science degree. An arts, law, commerce or engineering graduate with a 2.2 is eligible — and almost nothing has been written about it.
- 5years, against 4 for DN301
- 2.2minimum degree class
- Anydiscipline accepted
- GAMSATstill required
DN300 against DN301
UCD runs two graduate-entry veterinary courses. They are distinct CAO codes, not variants of one another.
| DN301 | DN300 | |
|---|---|---|
| Length | 4 years | 5 years |
| Degree discipline | Biological, biomedical or animal science | Any discipline |
| Minimum degree class | 2.2 honours, or a Master’s, or a PhD | 2.2 honours, or a Master’s, or a PhD |
| GAMSAT required? | Yes | Yes — the same test and score |
| 100-point supplementary form | Yes | Yes — the same rubric and the same 10-day deadline |
| Published cut-off | None | None |
| Published place count | Unverified | Unverified |
| Published fee, 2026/27 | €25,118 EU (plus €254 levy) · €44,880 non-EU | Not separately published — do not assume it matches |
Who this is actually for
One specific candidate, who currently has almost nowhere to read about it.
If you have decided on veterinary medicine after finishing a degree in something else — the classic career-change case — DN300 is very likely the only GAMSAT route available to you. DN301 will reject you on discipline before your score is read. Every Australian and UK veterinary course uses different admissions tests entirely.
The trade-off is honest and it is a real one: an extra year of tuition and an extra year out of the workforce. DN300 is not a shortcut around DN301 and should not be read as one. It is a different, longer course for people whose first degree did not point this way.
The comparison that actually matters: DN300 or UCD Medicine?
If your degree is not in science, these are the two GAMSAT courses at UCD open to you — and almost nobody sets them side by side.
The usual framing pits DN300 against DN301. For a non-science graduate that framing is useless, because DN301 is closed to you. The real choice is between DN300 and UCD Medicine (DN401) — both at the same university, both on the same GAMSAT result, and both open to any discipline.
| DN401 — Medicine | DN300 — Veterinary | |
|---|---|---|
| Length | 4 years | 5 years |
| Minimum degree | 2.1 — and it must be your FIRST degree | 2.2, or a Master’s, or a PhD |
| Discipline | Any | Any |
| Ranked on | GAMSAT alone, ties broken by random number | GAMSAT combined with the 100-point form |
| Does anything else count? | No — not experience, publications or postgraduate study | Yes — up to 80 of the 100 form points |
| Published cut-off | 58 (2025 entry); 61 · 60 · 58 · 57 · 58 across 2021–25 | None published |
| Interview | No, for EU applicants | Possible |
| EU fee, 2026/27 | €19,260 | Not separately published (DN301 is €25,118) |
| Non-EU route | Atlantic Bridge | VMCAS — Atlantic Bridge does not cover veterinary at all |
The first-degree rule is the sharpest difference, and it cuts in DN300’s favour
Irish graduate-entry medicine requires that your firstLevel 8 degree meets the standard. A later, better qualification does not rescue a weaker first degree — CAO’s appeals process has a dedicated “First Degree Query” category for precisely this argument, and it is a common and expensive surprise.
The published requirement for DN300 is worded differently: a 2.2 or above, or a Master’s, or a PhD — with postgraduate qualifications named as qualifying routes in their own right rather than as supplements to a first degree. For a career-changer whose undergraduate transcript is the weak part of the file, that is a materially different door.
We are reporting the difference in how the two requirements are published, which is checkable. We have notconfirmed with UCD how a weak first degree plus a strong Master’s is treated in practice, and if that describes you it is the single question worth asking before you commit to anything.
The application process is the same as DN301’s
Including the part that catches people out.
DN300 applicants go through the same three-part process: the CAO application, a valid GAMSAT score, and the UCD Supplementary Application Form — which must be completed, signed and submitted to CAO within 10 days of applying online, together with official degree transcripts. Offers issue in CAO Round 0, in early August.
The form is scored out of 100 by at least two independent assessors. The full rubric, and the two rules that govern how it is read, are on the DN301 page — they apply here identically.
Read the rubric before you assume ‘any discipline’ means a level field
“Any discipline” governs eligibility, not scoring. Two of the five criteria on the supplementary form reward science background specifically: 20 points for training in the biological sciences at school and degree level, and part of the degree-award points scale up to a PhD.
So a non-science graduate is eligible for DN300 and, reading UCD’s published scale, starts behind on a fifth of the form. That is our arithmetic from the rubric, not a statement by UCD — but it is arithmetic anyone can check, and it points at where the remaining criteria matter most: veterinary experience, leadership and publications are 60 of the 100 points, and none of them care what your degree was in.
What is not published — which is most of the detail you would want
We are going to leave these blank rather than fill them
- No cut-off. Neither CAO nor UCD publishes a GAMSAT cut-off for DN300 or DN301. Any figure circulating for either is unverified.
- No place count. We could not confirm one from a primary UCD source.
- No DN300-specific fee. UCD publishes 2026/27 fees for DN301 — €25,118 for EU applicants plus a €254 levy, and €44,880 for non-EU. We did not find separately published DN300 figures and are not assuming they match. Over five years rather than four, the difference compounds, so confirm it directly.
- No published GAMSAT-to-form weighting.UCD states only that ranking is on “a combination of” the two.
For all four, the answer arrives faster from vetprogrammes@ucd.ie than from anywhere on the internet, including here.
This page is short because the verified record is short. We would rather publish four confirmed facts and four stated gaps than pad it out with plausible detail — which, on a course this rarely written about, is exactly what tends to circulate and get copied. If you have applied through DN300 and can correct or extend any of this, report a correction.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between DN300 and DN301?
DN301 runs four years and requires a 2.2 or above in a biological, biomedical or animal science discipline. DN300 runs five years and accepts a 2.2 in any discipline. Both require the GAMSAT and both use the same 100-point supplementary form. They are separate CAO courses, not two versions of one.
Do I need a science degree for DN300?
No. Any discipline is accepted at a 2.2 or above, or a Master’s, or a PhD. That makes it the only GAMSAT veterinary route open to non-science graduates anywhere.
Do I still need the GAMSAT for DN300?
Yes. DN300 requires a valid GAMSAT score, the same test sat by medicine applicants, and it is combined with the supplementary form score to rank applicants.
What GAMSAT score do I need for DN300?
No cut-off is published, and because ranking combines the GAMSAT with a scored form, a bare test threshold would not be meaningful even if one existed. Treat any quoted DN300 score as invented.
Can I apply to both DN300 and DN301?
They are separate CAO course codes, so they can be listed separately on a CAO application. Whether both are open to you depends on your degree discipline — DN301 requires a science background, DN300 does not. Confirm the mechanics with UCD before relying on it.