AI Chatbot for Irish College Websites: 30 Admissions Questions

Irish applicants ask a predictable set of questions, and most of them revolve around the CAO, the Leaving Cert and what a course will cost. This list covers thirty of them, grouped into six themes, and says for each whether an AI chatbot should answer from the college's own published content, answer and ask a follow-up, or pass the conversation to a person. The rule throughout: answer from what the college has published, gather context, and hand off whatever calls for judgement.

For the wider picture, read our guide to AI chatbots in student recruitment and the overview of AI agents in higher education recruitment. What follows is the working checklist.

A. Courses and entry routes

Entry to Irish third level runs mostly through one central system, so the agent has to be fluent in it and honest about where its knowledge stops.

1. Which course should I choose? The agent asks what the applicant enjoys and which Leaving Cert subjects they take, then links to matching course pages. A request for personal guidance on a CAO choice list goes to a human.

2. Do I have what I need for this course? It quotes the published minimum entry requirements, including any required subjects and grades, and explains that points are a separate matter. It never forecasts next year's points, which depend on the demand and results of each cohort.

3. How do I apply through the CAO? The agent explains the steps and links to cao.ie. For courses that sit outside the CAO, such as many postgraduate and private college programmes, it describes the college's direct application from the course page.

4. What are the deadlines, the Change of Mind window and the Available Places stage? It reads the dates published by the CAO and the college. It says clearly when a date is not on the page and does not guess.

5. Is there an interview, portfolio, test or restricted entry? It describes any supplementary requirement published for the course. Questions about alternative routes such as access, mature or further education entry go to admissions, with the course and route already noted.

B. Fees and funding

Funding in Ireland is mostly about grants and fee supports, not loans, so the agent must not borrow assumptions from the UK or the US.

6. What will it cost? The agent gives the figure shown on the course page, split by fee status where the college publishes it, and states the academic year. It mentions the Student Contribution when the page does.

7. Can I get a grant or scholarship? It points to SUSI, the national grants body, and to any scholarships the college publishes. Whether a particular family qualifies is a SUSI decision, so the agent does not assess it.

8. How do I pay, and can I pay in instalments? The agent describes the published payment options. A request outside those options is treated as a hardship matter (see question 26).

9. Can I work or earn while I study? It explains what the college says about part-time work, placements and apprenticeship routes. It does not make claims about work permissions for non-EU students beyond the official guidance.

10. What other costs should I expect? Accommodation, travel, books, materials and field trips vary. The agent cites the course page and the college's student budget guidance where they exist.

C. Recognition and outcomes

Parents in particular want to know that a qualification counts. The agent should answer with the college's own evidence.

11. Is the college and the qualification recognised? The agent explains that the award sits on the National Framework of Qualifications and links to the QQI website so people can check the provider and programme. It names the validating body where the college publishes it.

12. What jobs do graduates go into? It cites the college's own published graduate destination data with the year and survey source. If none exists on the site, it says so.

13. Are there work placements? The agent describes the placement or work-based learning module listed on the course page, including whether it is optional.

14. Can I do Erasmus or a year abroad? It explains the partner institutions and eligibility listed by the international office, and which courses include a mobility option.

15. How is the college ranked? It repeats only rankings the college publishes, naming the source and year, for example a newspaper guide. It does not compare itself to other colleges.

D. Campus and daily life

Practical questions decide whether a prospect books a visit, and they are easy to answer well.

16. Where can I live? The agent explains campus residences, the application timing and the private rental route from the accommodation pages, and warns that rental demand is high where the page says so. It sends accessibility needs to the accommodation office.

17. Where is the campus and how do I get there? It gives the address, public transport, parking and cycling information the college publishes, and can say which campus a course is on when there are several.

18. When is the next open day and how do I book? The agent lists open days, accepts the booking and records the course of interest. This is the point where the chat usually becomes a useful record for admissions.

19. How are classes delivered? It explains whether a programme is full-time, part-time, evening, blended or online. Fully online delivery is only mentioned when the college actually offers it.

20. What is student life like, and what help is there? The agent describes clubs and societies, the students' union, the careers service and support offices from the published pages. It does not address one person's entitlements.

E. International students and paperwork

Many international enquiries come from outside the EU. The agent should lean on government sources and the Education in Ireland network.

21. Do I need a visa or permission to study? It explains that rules depend on nationality and links to Education in Ireland for general study guidance. It tells the person to check the Irish immigration service for their own case and does not decide eligibility.

22. What English level do I need? The agent quotes the course's published English requirement and accepted tests. A borderline result goes to the international office.

23. Will my foreign qualification be accepted? It explains where the college publishes country-by-country equivalences. Recognition of a specific certificate is decided by admissions, which may seek a QQI recognition view.

24. What documents will I need? It lists the documents published by the college, such as transcripts, passport copy, references and proof of English, and explains the upload route.

25. Where is my application up to? This needs authenticated access to the application system. Without it, the agent explains the usual stages and passes the request, with any reference the person gave, to a human.

F. Questions that must reach a person

Every one of these needs a human to decide, so the agent's job is a warm handoff with the context already packaged.

26. Financial hardship or a different payment plan. The trigger is any request to alter a fee or any mention of difficulty paying. The agent passes the course, the applicant's stated circumstances and contact preference, and mentions the college's student support fund if the page does.

27. Special circumstances and reasonable accommodation. This includes disability, a gap year, a repeated year or a break in study. The agent points to the disability support service and passes the course and anything the person volunteered. It does not ask for health details.

28. Complaints, appeals and unsuccessful applications. The agent shows the published complaints or appeals process and hands over the conversation. It does not explain a decision or promise a different one.

29. Wellbeing, safeguarding or an emergency. If a message suggests risk, the agent gives urgent contacts straight away and alerts a person. This overrides every other flow.

30. Data rights requests and sensitive data. Access, erasure and objection requests go to the college's data protection officer. The agent does not collect extra personal data to process them.

How the thirty questions are routed

How to test the agent before launch

Turn the thirty questions into a script and use the wording students and parents actually type, including shorthand such as "points" or "my LC results". For each reply, open the page it should draw on and check that every fact matches. An answer that sounds right but is not on the page counts as a failure.

Add questions the agent should refuse, such as "Will I get enough points?" or "Can you guarantee me a place?", and check that it admits it does not know and offers a person. Then trigger each of the six handoffs and confirm that the right team receives the conversation with the context intact.

Once live, review the unanswered questions each month. Missing content is the usual cause, so fix the page before changing the agent. Our look at questions prospects ask before enrolling supplies more test material.

Disclosure and data protection in Ireland

Say at the start of the chat that the person is speaking to an AI and show how to reach a human. The GDPR applies directly in Ireland and is supplemented by the Data Protection Act 2018, and the regulator is the Data Protection Commission. Collect only what the question needs, state the purpose, and keep health and other special category data out of the chat.

Article 50 of the EU AI Act requires that people are told when they interact with an AI system, as set out on artificialintelligenceact.eu. The college's data protection officer should approve the flow, the privacy notice and the retention rules before launch.

Where Skolbot fits

Skolbot's web agent answers with the college's own content, understands programmes, intakes and campuses, and passes the conversation and its qualification to the CRM so that admissions takes over with context. It complements your advisors, and the split of work is explained in AI chatbot versus human agent.