Trinity honours 154 students with inaugural FET distinction awards
Posted on: 20 January 2026
These new awards celebrate those who come to Trinity from alternative routes and reflect Trinity’s commitment to widening access routes to the university, as detailed in the Strategic Plan 2025-30 -Thrive.
A total of 154 first and second-year students have received inaugural QQI Distinction Awards from Trinity College Dublin this week, in recognition of excellent performance in their FET (Further Education and Training) College examinations.
Students who secured places on Trinity undergraduate programmes in both 2024 and 2025 received awards this week. All awardees achieved 8 distinctions in their FET College examinations.
A total of 71 awardees from 24 FET colleges entered Trinity in 2024 while 83 from 27 colleges entered in 2025. An event to celebrate the students’ achievements was hosted in Trinity’s historic Dining Hall by the Vice-Provost/Chief Academic Officer Professor Orla Sheils on Monday 19th January 2026. Students and their former school principals attended.
[Pictured above is student Kerri Byrne who studied at Liberties College, with her parents Aidan and Margaret (on far left and right) with Vice-Provost/Chief Academic Officer Orla Sheils; Aidan is Assistant Grounds Supervisor at Trinity]
“Trinity’s new Strategic Plan - Thrive- has made a firm commitment to widening access to the university,” said Trinity Vice-Provost/Chief Academic Officer Orla Sheils. “These awards recognise the fact that excellence can emerge through multiple pathways. They also level the playing field for new entrants from the FET sector, as the awards mirror the traditional Entrance Exhibition Awards available to students who sit the Leaving Certificate, or equivalent. Well done to all.”
[Above are Bana Olawaye, Roseanne Devaza and Aoife Mitchell who studied at Killester College]
Professor Vincent Wade, Senior Lecturer and Dean of Undergraduate Studies, said: “Students in the Further Education and Training sector have enormous talent and experience to bring to any university and are very welcome in Trinity. It is important also to recognise the collaborative role that FET institutions play in supporting student success. We very much look forward to building further connections with the FET sector in the years to come.”
[Above are Muhammad Zain Raza, who studied at Rathmines College of Further Education and Kyrylo Borovyk of Dun Laoghaire College of Education]
Places are available in all three of Trinity’s faculties – Arts Humanities and Social Sciences, Health Sciences and STEM – to students who follow a QQI/FET route to university.
Students who enter by the more usual route, after completing a Leaving Certificate or equivalent, are eligible for Entrance Exhibition awards for excellence. These awards will be presented later this week.
QQI Distinction Awardees will receive a €150 book token and a certificate.
Of the 2024 entrants, 51 were from Dublin, six from Louth, six from Meath, two from Wicklow and six from other areas. In 2025, 52 awardees were from Dublin, ten from Louth, 12 from Meath, three from Wicklow and six from elsewhere.
ENDS
Media Contact:
Catherine O’Mahony | Media Relations | catherine.omahony@tcd.ie