Bachelor in Environmental Sciences for Sustainability

About the course

A 4-year environmental science degree taught in English. You spend the first year on IE’s Segovia campus and the last three years in Madrid. IE says the programme is still going through the official verification process and may change.

Entry requirements for Irish students

• IE University does not list the Irish Leaving Certificate on its entry requirements page (it lists grade guides for other systems, such as a French Bac of 14 or more). Under Spanish rules for EU school leavers, Leaving Cert students do not sit the Spanish entrance exam (PAU), but they are expected to meet the rules for getting into university in Ireland. As a guide, UCD asks for six subjects, with at least H5 in two and O6/H7 in the other four, including English and Irish. Confirm with IE admissions how your Leaving Cert will be assessed.
• Selection is through IE’s own process: an online application, the IE Admissions Test (in English only, covering verbal, logical and numerical skills, and for this degree also a Mathematics Assessment), an online assessment and a personal interview, then a committee decision. IE describes its test as an alternative to standardised tests such as the SAT, so ask admissions if an external score can be used instead.
• English: IE does not need an English certificate (normally IELTS 7 or TOEFL 100) from students who have lived in an English-speaking country for more than 2 years or who studied in an English-language school system for at least the last 2 years of secondary school. Leaving Cert students living in Ireland should therefore be exempt, but confirm this with admissions.

How to apply

1. Apply online earlyApply through IE University’s online portal in 6th Year, and pay the €150 application fee. There is no fixed deadline, but earlier rounds have more places.
2. Sit the test and interviewComplete the IE Admissions Test in English, which for this degree includes a Mathematics Assessment, then the online assessment and the personal interview.
3. Accept and pay the depositIf you receive an offer, accept it by the date given and pay the €3,000 deposit to hold your place.
4. Send final documents by 15 OctoberAfter your Leaving Cert results, send your final legal documents, such as your results, to IE admissions before 15 October of your first year.

Costs

• IE University is a private university, so the same fee applies to EU and non-EU students and it is far higher than at Spanish public universities. IE lists this degree at €26,500 a year for 2026/27; the 2027/28 fee had not been published when we checked. There is also a €150 application fee and a €3,000 deposit to hold your place. Ask IE admissions for the 2027/28 fee.

At a glance