If you’re from Northern Ireland, Trinners want you. The university is “re-asserting its historic mission as a university for the whole island” by aspiring to eventually having 8% of the student body come from the North.

This is in response to the recent decline in students from Northern Ireland coming to the college.

In pursuit of such an ambition, Trinity has taken a big step in relaxing the requirement that applicants from Northern Ireland need to have. Up to now, they had to have four A-Levels, which, thus far, proved an obstacle to interested students because only one in eight students in the North take four A-levels.

The Provost of Trinity, Dr Patrick Prendergast, said recently that the decline in student numbers from Northern Ireland had been a “source of deep regret to our alumni, our students, our staff and to me personally”.

He said: “Trinity has been, since its foundation in 1592, an all-island university and that must be maintained.”

So, practically, how is this going to work?

Trinity has announced a feasibility study to find a new way of admitting A-Level applicants.

In the year ahead (for admission in September 2015), the university will admit a number of students from Northern Ireland, looking purely at the best three A-Levels of the applicant.

All courses are included (except medicine because of the HPAT requirement). A maximum of three places per course are available through this feasibility study (larger courses will have three, but smaller courses will have one to two places available).

Students from Northern Ireland are also eligible for all the regular places, which will be filled in the usual way using CAO points.

Applicants are eligible for the feasibility study regardless of whether they are taking three, four or more A-Level subjects.

Interested students must, however, secure a minimum of ABB in their best three A-Levels. Applicants will then be ranked on merit, with the available places going to those with the higher grades in their best three subjects. CL