Study quantity surveying in Ireland and you enter a profession with a national skills shortage and a clear route to chartered status. This guide compares all ten CAO honours degrees, from 234 to 451 points in 2025, alongside placement, alternative pathways, salaries and the SCSI chartership journey.
Quantity surveyors manage the money side of construction: estimating costs, running tenders, managing contracts and keeping projects on budget from feasibility to final account. Ireland has a well documented shortage of qualified quantity surveyors, and every honours programme below is a direct route into the profession. Some are titled Quantity Surveying and Construction Economics; the content and career destination are essentially the same.
| INSTITUTION | CAO CODE | PROGRAMME | AWARD | YEARS | 2025 R1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TU Dublin | TU837 | Quantity Surveying & Construction Economics | BSc (Hons) | 4 | 451 |
| MTU Cork | MT857 | Quantity Surveying | BSc (Hons) | 4 | 421 |
| ATU Galway | AU636 | Quantity Surveying & Construction Economics | BSc (Hons) | 4 | 350 |
| ATU Donegal (Letterkenny) | AU341 | Quantity Surveying | BSc (Hons) | 4 | 347 |
| ATU Sligo | AU945 | Quantity Surveying | BSc (Hons) | 4 | 344 |
| TUS Limerick | US881 | Quantity Surveying | BSc (Hons) | 4 | 327 |
| SETU Carlow | SE705 | Quantity Surveying | BSc (Hons) | 4 | 312 |
| TUS Athlone | US880 | Quantity Surveying | BSc (Hons) | 4 | 288 |
| SETU Waterford | SE704 | Quantity Surveying | BSc (Hons) | 4 | 283 |
| Dundalk IT | DK834 | Quantity Surveying | BSc (Hons) | 4 | 234 |
Points shown are 2025 CAO Round 1 cut-offs. Verify at cao.ie/points. All listed programmes are covered by the Free Fees Initiative for eligible students.
Quantity surveying is one of the most accessible professional degrees in the CAO. These programmes deliver the same accredited qualification and the same chartership route at points from 234 to 312.
Employers and clients care about SCSI or RICS accreditation, your placement experience and, ultimately, chartered status. Every honours QS degree on this page leads to the same Assessment of Professional Competence and the same chartered title. The CAO points differ because of supply and demand for places, not because of the qualification you leave with.
| Institution | CAO Code | Programme | Level | Duration | 2025 R1 Points | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SETU | SE705 | Quantity Surveying | L8 | 4 yrs | 312 | Carlow |
| SE704 | Quantity Surveying | L8 | 4 yrs | 283 | Waterford | |
| TUS | US880 | Quantity Surveying | L8 | 4 yrs | 288 | Athlone |
| Dundalk IT | DK834 | Quantity Surveying | L8 | 4 yrs | 234 | Dundalk |
| ATU Donegal | AU240 | Quantity Surveying | L7 | 3 yrs | 260 | Letterkenny |
Points shown are 2025 CAO Round 1 cut-offs. The Level 7 route allows progression to the honours degree with an additional year of study.
A graduate of DkIT and a graduate of TU Dublin sit the same SCSI Assessment of Professional Competence and carry the same letters after their name. In a profession with a national skills shortage, employers hire on placement experience, work ethic and technical skill. Your CAO points are the price of the seat, not the value of the career.
The CAO points race is only one door. These routes suit students who miss points, discover the profession later, or want to earn while they learn.
Take a construction studies, built environment or engineering technology PLC at your local further education college. Find live courses on fetchcourses.ie.
All the QS providers on this page accept QQI FET entry. TU Dublin, TUS, ATU, SETU and DkIT each publish their linked awards and module requirements.
You join first year alongside CAO points entrants, one year later but often with a stronger foundation in construction technology.
Not certain quantity surveying is the one? Several institutions offer a common first year across the built environment, letting you sample QS, construction management and property before you commit.
Quantity surveying attracts many mature students, particularly tradespeople who already know sites inside out. Carpenters, electricians and plumbers who move into QS bring credibility that employers value highly.
CAO points, PLC, Level 7 progression, mature entry, apprenticeship or a conversion masters: each ends at an accredited honours qualification and eligibility for the same SCSI Assessment of Professional Competence. Nobody on a construction site will ever ask which door you came in through.
Here is the honest picture: quantity surveying as a named degree is largely an Irish and UK tradition. On the continent the closest equivalents are English-taught built environment, construction engineering and civil engineering degrees.
Irish QS employers and the chartership route are built around SCSI and RICS accredited degrees. A continental built environment degree is a respected qualification, but it is usually not SCSI accredited, so you would typically add an accredited conversion MSc back in Ireland, or follow the RICS experience-based route, before chartership. Verify the position with the SCSI before relying on any overseas programme.
Dutch universities of applied sciences charge the statutory EU tuition fee, well below private options at home, and public universities in Germany and the Nordics can be lower again.
The Netherlands has the widest range of English-taught built environment programmes in the EU, with practice-oriented teaching and built-in work placements.
Construction is a global industry. Graduates with EU study experience are attractive to the international consultancies and contractors that dominate Irish QS recruitment.
Closer to home, Ulster University in Belfast offers a long-established RICS accredited quantity surveying degree that many students from border counties choose, and several universities in Britain offer RICS accredited QS honours degrees. These carry direct professional recognition, though tuition fees outside the Republic are considerably higher than Free Fees at home, so compare the total cost carefully.
You can work as a quantity surveyor straight after graduation. Chartered status with the SCSI is the professional gold standard, and there are two classic sides of the industry to build it in.
Professional quantity surveyors represent the client: cost planning, tendering, contract administration and final accounts, usually office based with regular site visits.
An accredited degree gives direct entry to the SCSI graduate pathway and, through it, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors internationally.
The Assessment of Professional Competence is structured, supervised workplace training ending in a professional interview. Pass it and you are a Chartered Quantity Surveyor (MSCSI, MRICS).
Contractor QSs are usually site based, controlling costs as they happen, procuring subcontract packages and managing variations and claims.
The contracting side offers the fastest salary progression in the profession, with commercial director roles at the top of large contractors.
The same SCSI APC can be completed in a contracting role, and many employers fund membership fees and pay for APC support as standard.
Unlike some professions, there is no expensive post-degree college to fund. Chartership is earned in paid employment, and in the current market employers routinely cover SCSI membership and APC costs to attract graduates. Check current membership fees directly on scsi.ie.
Typical starting range, often with a vehicle or travel allowance on contracting roles. Strong demand means graduates frequently hold multiple offers.
Senior quantity surveyors, particularly in Dublin, sit in this band. The SCSI reports a national median of around €70k for chartered surveyors.
Commercial managers on major contractors and partners in consultancies command six figures, typically with bonus, pension and health benefits.
Cost consultancies and multidisciplinary firms advising clients on everything from housing schemes to hospitals, plus public bodies and semi-states.
Main contractors, specialist subcontractors, M&E firms and property developers. Irish contractors also recruit QSs for major projects across Europe.
Data centres, pharma and energy cost engineering, project management, dispute resolution, insurance and banking all recruit QS graduates for their cost expertise.
Salary figures are indicative ranges from the SCSI Salary and Benefits Report and recruitment-industry salary guides and vary by employer, location, and experience.
From Transition Year curiosity to chartered letters after your name, here is the full journey.
Seek TY work experience with a QS consultancy or contractor, attend open days at the institutions above, and keep Maths solid: O6/H7 is the typical minimum requirement, and higher level is not required.
Applications open at cao.ie. The discounted early-bird deadline is 20 January.
Normal closing date for CAO applications, and the deadline for mature applicants, DARE and HEAR.
Reorder your choices free of charge until 1 July. With ten QS programmes nationwide, this is your chance to fine-tune the geography and points spread of your list.
Leaving Certificate results, then CAO Round 1 offers. Accept online by the stated deadline.
Four years including a substantial work placement (a full 12 months at TUS Limerick). Treat placement as a year-long job interview: most graduate offers start there.
Consultancy (PQS) or contracting? Join the SCSI as a graduate member and start your structured APC diary from day one in either.
Pass the APC professional interview and you are a Chartered Quantity Surveyor (MSCSI, MRICS), a qualification recognised across the world.
Placement is where QS careers are made. Compare length and format: TUS Limerick offers a full 12-month Active Learning Year, TUS Athlone a minimum 24 weeks, and every programme builds in industry experience. Ask at open days how placements are sourced and where last year's students went.
The main Irish QS honours degrees are accredited by the SCSI, and several also carry RICS and CIOB recognition. Accreditation is reviewed periodically, so before you finalise your CAO list, verify each course's current status on scsi.ie rather than relying on last year's prospectus.
With cut-offs from 234 to 451 in 2025, quantity surveying rewards a well-ordered CAO list. Put your genuine first preference on top regardless of points, then ladder down through realistic and safe choices. The Level 7 route at ATU Donegal and the Built Environment common entries are excellent safety rungs.
QS jobs cluster around major construction activity: Dublin, Cork, the data centre belt and, increasingly, everywhere housing is being delivered. Studying near a strong regional market can mean cheaper student living now and a local placement network later, without limiting where you work after graduation.
There is no single best place to study quantity surveying in Ireland. Every honours programme on this page leads to the same accredited qualification, the same APC and the same chartered title. What separates graduates five years out is the placement they threw themselves into, the professionals they learned from, and the reputation they built on their first projects. Pick the programme that fits your points, your geography and your life, then make the absolute most of it.