Springboard+ is a government-funded initiative in Ireland (co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the European Union) that provides free or heavily subsidised higher education courses for unemployed people, returners to work, and those looking to upskill. It focuses on areas where there are skills shortages, helping learners gain qualifications that improve employability and career progression. Courses are delivered through approved higher education institutions and range from short certificates to postgraduate programmes.

At Trinity Innovation, we offer Springboard+ funded Postgraduate Certificate courses on a part-time basis up to 6 months. You can view all our courses on offer here.

Springboard+ provides significant financial support for eligible applicants who are successful in their application:

• Eligible unemployed applicants: 100% of course fees covered.
• Eligible employed applicants: 90% of course fees covered, with the remaining 10% payable directly by the applicant to Trinity College Dublin during the college registration process.

Eligibility criteria can be reviewed on the Springboard+ website at springboardcourses.ie/eligibility.

To qualify for Springboard+ funding, you must meet the following high-level criteria on the start date of the course:

• Residency: You must have lived in the EU/EEA/UK/Switzerland for at least 3 of the last 5 years.
  For non-EU citizens (with the exception unemployed in receipt of qualifying DSP payment), you must have a qualifying visa stamp limited to the following visas: Stamp 1 / Stamp 1G, Stamp 3, Stamp 4 / Stamp 4 EU FAM / Stamp 4D, Stamp 5 or Stamp 6.
• Location: You must reside full-time in the Republic of Ireland.
• Status: You must be employed, self-employed, an eligible unemployed benefit recipient, or a registered returner/homemaker.
• Visa for Non-EU Applicants: You must hold a Stamp 4, Stamp 4D, Stamp 5, or Stamp 6 on your passport/IRP card.

If you graduated from a full-time undergraduate programme in the 12 months prior to the start date of the Springboard+ funded course you are considering, you are not eligible for Springboard+ funding. 

It is the applicant’s responsibility to review the eligibility criteria against their own individual circumstances before applying. Please visit the following Springboard+ page for up-to-date detailed information on the eligibility criteria:

Am I Eligible for Funding?

If you are not eligible for Springboard+ funding, you can still enrol by paying the full academic fee. Please see individual course pages for course fees for EU and non-EU applicants.

For our postgraduate certificates, a Level 8 Honours Degree is our standard academic requirement. However, there are multiple entry pathways:

• Standard Entry: Applicants with a Level 8 Honours Degree qualify directly, subject to providing the required transcripts and references. Please note that for Healthcare Innovation and Climate Entrepreneurship, a standard pre-requisite is a Level 8 2.1 Honours Degree.
• Admissions Approval Pathway: Applicants with a Level 7 Ordinary Degree or a Level 8 2.2 degree can apply and have their application reviewed through the Trinity Admissions Approval Process (which may require a short essay submission).
• Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL): If you do not have a Level 7 or 8 degree but possess significant relevant professional experience, you can apply under Trinity’s RPL policy. Your suitability will be assessed based on your career achievements and professional experience.

To ensure your application moves swiftly through our admissions committee, we have split the initial application process into two distinct stages.

Stage 1: The Academic Review - Admission Stage

Our academic committee will review your application. You will need the following document for this review: CV, Personal Statement, Academic Transcript/Degree Certificate, 2 x Written References.

If your application is successful at this stage, you will be offered a provisional place on the course. (A provisional offer means you've been offered a place, subject to the final eligibility and registration checks.)  Your Springboard+ portal application status will be changed to “successful” and you will receive an e-mail asking you to “accept” your place on the course.

Stage 2: The Funding Verification - Eligibility Stage

The next stage will determine if you qualify for the 90% or 100% course subsidy. This stage will become available to you closer to the course start date - 6 weeks before the start date if you are employed, or 2 weeks before the start date if you are unemployed.

At that stage, you will be able to upload your eligibility documents to the Springboard+ portal to verify your eligibility for funding. These documents must be dated within the applicable timeframe to be accepted.

Once your eligibility documents have been verified, your application status on the Springboard+ portal will be updated to ‘Enrolled’. You will then be guided through the Trinity College registration process.

Application Tip!

Places are offered on a rolling basis.  Submit your Stage 1 application for Academic Review today – there is no need to wait for your Stage 2 documents.

Here is a checklist of the required documents:

For academic eligibility:

1. Curriculum Vitae (CV)
   Up-to-date CV of 2 pages maximum.
   For proof of English language proficiency, if English is not your first language, please see Trinity's Postgraduate English Language Requirements
2. Personal Statement of Interest
   300 words maximum to include:
   1. Detail what aspects of the course/opportunities resonate with you.
   2. Explain how your life and work experience, as well as your qualifications align
   with and are relevant to the course.
   3. Outline how you intend to apply the knowledge and skills gained from the
   course in your future endeavours.
   4. Share any additional motivations behind your decision to apply for this
   course.
3. Academic Transcript or Degree Certificate
   → Level 8 (Honours Degree): Official Transcript Required. Applications are typically accepted if academic requirements are met.
   → Level 7 (Ordinary Degree): Official transcript Required. Applications are subject to review and approval by the Admissions Office.
   → No Level 7 or Level 8 Qualification: You may still be eligible through Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL). This policy allows applicants to be considered based on relevant work experience,
   training, or prior learning. See Trinity College’s RPL Policy here.
   → International Qualifications: If your qualification was awarded outside Ireland, you must provide a NARIC comparability statement confirming equivalence. Please see here: NARIC and follow the steps outlined:
   i. Search for your qualification in the NARIC database ensuring the title on the comparability statement exactly matches your transcript title
   ii. Download the comparability statement (PDF – free)
   iii. Upload it alongside your qualification documents
4. Written References (2)
   Two written references that meet the following requirements:
   1. Must be academic or professional in nature.
   2. Must be dated within 3 months of submission.
   3. Must be signed by the referee and include their contact details
   (company/institutional email addresses only. Personal email addresses are not accepted).
   4. Must address the following headings:
   i. What capacity do you know the individual in?
   ii. Can you recommend their suitability for the course?
   
   Note: If your referee does not have an official reference letter ready, you can contact us to request a pre-formatted Applicant Reference Template. email us at springboard@tcd.ie.

For Springboard+ Funding eligibility:

The list of documentation you require for Springboard+ eligibility review can be found on the Springboard+ website here.

All documents should be uploaded directly to the Springboard+ portal. You can find our 5 Postgraduate Certificate courses for application on the Springboard+ portal:

• Postgraduate Certificate in Workplace Wellness
• Postgraduate Certificate in Creative & Cultural Entrepreneurship
• Postgraduate Certificate in Climate Entrepreneurship
• Postgraduate Certificate in Healthcare Innovation
• Postgraduate Certificate in Innovation & Enterprise Development

Please refer to each individual course webpage for closing dates. Here are the links to the programmes currently open for application:

Postgraduate Certificate in Creative & Cultural Entrepreneurship

Postgraduate Certificate in Healthcare Innovation

Postgraduate Certificate in Climate Entrepreneurship

Postgraduate Certificate in Innovation and Enterprise Development

Applications must be accompanied by all the required admission documents in order to be considered for a final offer. All documents must be uploaded to the Springboard+ portal before the final closing date for the course (see relevant course page for dates). 

Please note that once you have submitted your documents for academic eligibility review (Stage 1 of the Application Process), our academic team can review your profile and hold a provisional space for you while you organise your Springboard+ funding eligibility documents. (See ‘Application Process’ above)

If you have any concerns or need any assistance, please email us at springboard@tcd.ie

Once you have started your application, we will review your documents as they are uploaded and contact you if we have any questions. Please upload your documents as soon as they are ready.

We are currently receiving a high volume of enquiries, but please be assured that we will respond as soon as possible. If you have not heard from us within one week of submitting your application, please email us at springboard@TCD.ie.

You can find further detailed information about the Springboard+ application process on their website How To Apply page.

Provisional offers will be made on an ongoing, rolling basis to applicants who complete an application submission.

We are currently receiving a high volume of enquiries, but please be assured that we will respond as soon as possible. If you have not heard from us within one week of submitting your application, please email us at springboard@TCD.ie.

• Postgraduate Certificate in Healthcare Innovation:  Specifically designed for healthcare practitioners, administrators, and allied health professionals. Typical attendees include doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, midwives, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, pharmacists, carers, and MedTech developers looking to improve operational workflows, clinical products, or patients' care pathways.
• Postgraduate Certificate in Creative & Cultural Entrepreneurship: Built for those in the creative, design, arts, and heritage sectors. It is ideal for visual artists, actors, writers, musicians, theatre directors, craftspeople, cultural producers, and social enterprise managers looking to commercialise or scale their creative practices.
• Postgraduate Certificate in Climate Entrepreneurship:  Tailored for sustainability coordinators, environmental consultants, public sector professionals, geophysicists, and business leaders. It is designed to equip you with systems thinking methodologies to tackle environmental challenges and build green startup or circular economy solutions.
• Postgraduate Certificate in Innovation & Enterprise Development: Ideal for corporate innovators, project managers, public sector leaders, and aspiring entrepreneurs across any sector who want to acquire structured, practical frameworks in design thinking, ideation, validation, and venture pitching.

Absolutely not. In fact, these programmes are designed from the ground up for multidisciplinary groups with little to no commercial training.

Our greatest asset is the diversity of the classroom. Having people from different backgrounds and skillsets collaborate in teams simulates real-world problem-solving and forces you to view challenges through multiple dimensions.

Our approach is highly experiential, cognitive, and reflective. You will not sit in passive lectures memorising slides. Instead, you will work actively on real-world case studies, build user personas, engage in brainstorm sprint frameworks, and present collaborative group projects. It is a highly interactive, hands-on, and fun way to learn alongside a vibrant peer network.

You do not need an idea coming into our courses. Part of the core learning experience is showing you how to find, validate, and develop ideas from scratch. The programmes teach you the structured tools of ideation, design thinking and collaborative problem solving. You will identify and learn how to convert real-world pain points into viable commercial, clinical, or social solutions and stress-test them.

You can expect structures for class times similar to the following:

• Creative and Cultural Entrepreneurship:  Delivered over 20 teaching weeks. Classes are held 2 evenings per week (typically Mon/Wed 18:00 - 21:00, 40% online, 60% in-person).
• Climate Entrepreneurship: Delivered over 20 teaching weeks. Classes are held 1–2 evenings per week (Tues/Thurs online, 18:00 - 21:00) plus 4–5 Saturdays in-person (10:00 - 17:00).
• Healthcare Innovation: Delivered over 10 teaching weeks. Classes are held on Fridays (online, 14:00 - 17:00) and Saturdays (in-person, 09:30 - 16:30).
• Innovation and Enterprise Development: Delivered over 20 teaching weeks. Classes are held on Tuesday and Thursday evenings (18:00 - 21:00) with some Saturdays (09:30 - 16:30)

In addition, as these are Level 9 postgraduate certificates awarded by Trinity College Dublin, they require active study outside of scheduled class times. 

Live attendance is mandatory. Because our teaching methodology is highly experiential and collaborative, active real-time participation in group projects is required. Classes are not recorded for passive, delayed viewing. You must maintain a high attendance rate (minimum 80%) to complete the course.

There are no traditional written end-of-term exams. Instead, assessment is entirely continuous. Depending on the module, you will be graded on collaborative group presentations, written reports, individual reflection journals, and pitch presentations.