PTE or IELTS for Ireland: which test should you take?

The immigration page says its table is "for immigration purposes only" and that each student must meet their college's own requirement (Irish Immigration Service). In practice the university figure is the one you must hit: 6.5 IELTS or 63 PTE at most Irish universities, far above the visa's 5.0 and 30. The certificate must be issued within two years of your course start date.

Trinity is the outlier on PTE. Its Band B needs PTE 69 with 59 per section (Trinity), while Pearson's concordance places 63–70 at IELTS 7.0 (Pearson). So for Trinity, a PTE candidate needs a relatively higher score than an IELTS candidate needs for the same band. UCD also says IELTS retake scores are not accepted (UCD).

Choose PTE Academic if you are applying to UCD, UCC, Galway, DCU or Maynooth, where PTE 63 matches IELTS 6.5, and you want results in about two days.

Choose IELTS if Trinity is on your list (PTE 69 is a high bar), if you are a nurse or midwife (NMBI accepts IELTS Academic, IELTS for UKVI and OET only), or if you prefer a face-to-face speaking interview. Fees will not decide it: both are EUR 220 in Ireland and within INR 100 of each other in India.