City Planning & Environmental Policy (BSc)

Program Overview

Our degree in City Planning & Environmental Policy is about solving complex issues that we experience in our everyday lives. How can we provide housing for everyone? How can we reduce our climate impact and conserve our natural environment? Where should we build our schools and shops? This unique degree brings together a focus on the city, the environment and design and links them with clear routes to professions and careers. UCD Planning is also the oldest, largest and most respected planning and environmental policy school in Ireland. Most planners currently employed in Ireland were educated in the School, and the course is accredited by the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI). How competitive: applicants from the EU apply through the CAO and are ranked on points. In round 1 of 2026, places went to applicants with 474 points or more. UCD does not publish how it scores the IB. On Trinity College Dublin's indicative scale for the IB, that is about 35 points, or about 33 with Higher Level Mathematics at 4 or better, which adds 25. Applicants from outside the EU apply to UCD directly, where 24 points makes them eligible to compete for a place.