Frequently Asked Questions

What opportunities are available for secondary school students?

STEPS Engineering Your Future has both In-Person and Virtual experiences. All secondary school students can participate in the STEPS Engineering Your Future Virtual Experience from September 2025 to January 16 2026. The In-Person experiences are only for Transition Year students and will open for applications at the end of November 2025.

What is the STEPS Engineering Your Future Virtual experience?

This is an on demand Virtual work experience developed by Springpod together with STEPS. It is open to all secondary school students but only from September 2025 to January 2026. You can find out more here.

When can I apply for STEPS EYF 2026 (In-Person experience)?

Applications for Engineering Your Future 2026 open at the end of November 2025.

If you have a student entering Transition Year in September 2025 they will be eligible to apply in November 2025. Anyone interested in finding out the opening date for Engineering Your Future 2026 can register your interest here. By registering you will be the first to hear when the EYF in person experiences open.

Who can apply /Who is eligible for the STEPS EYF experience?

In order to apply for the STEPS Engineering Your Future In-Person experiences you must be a current Transition Year student, permanently resident in Ireland.

Can 5th year students apply?

Unfortunately, STEPS Engineering Your Future In-Person experiences are for Transition Year students only. Applications will not be accepted from 5th year students.

What experiences are available?

Full details of all experiences are listed here.

Three brothers from Boherbue, Cork discuss their experiences of attending the STEPS Engineering Your Future experience to studying engineering at MTU.

Please read the information below before completing your application

What will I need before completing the application form?

Your (student) contact details including your own email address- ideally a gmail account
Parent/guardian contact details which must be different to your student email address
Your parent/guardian must give their consent for you to apply if you are under 16 at time of application. This is for GDPR.
TY Coordinator contact details.
A 200-word statement describing your reasons for wanting to attend a STEPS Engineering Your Future experience.
Only apply once- if you need to amend your application you can email steps@engineersireland.ie.

Why do I need my own email address (student).

Email is our favourite form of communication, it’s our primary way for communicating with you, your parents/carers and teachers. You need to apply with an email address that belongs to you, we recommend you use a Gmail address. School email addresses don't always receive our messages. Please don't use a shared email account, such as your parent's email address. The address you use is your official email address in our system, and we will use it to send you important information.

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Important information

All programmes will take place during business hours.
All programmes are in person you will need to arrange your own travel to/from these programmes.
There are no overnight events and no accommodation included in the programme.

What are the selection criteria?

STEPS is not involved in selecting the students to attend individual programmes. This decision is made by the STEPS EYF Programme coordinators and canvassing will disqualify. Students are asked to submit a short (200 word) report stating why they would like to attend the programme.

How much does it cost?

Programme costs depend on the programme. A three day programme fees are €25, four day programme fees are €30 and a five day programme fess are €35. Students attending a DEIS school will not be charged any fees.

Why is there a charge?

The STEPS Programme is not for profit. All fees will go into covering the costs of the programme such as administration, preparing activities etc.

What will happen on a typical EYF Programme?

The EYF Programmes take place over 3, 4 or 5 days. Some programmes will be online only, some will be a mix of online and in person and other will be in person only. Please read the details for the programme you are interested in carefully before selection. Programmes will include interactive talks, labs, workshops and more. Full schedules will be sent to all who are accepted on a programme in advance of the dates.

Application process

When will I hear back after my application?

We will send out a notice after the application stage is closed to let you know when you can expect to hear about the programme. Usually first round offers to the programmes are sent out within a month of applications being closed and then second round offers will be a few weeks later.

Am I guaranteed to get an offer on a programme?

No, unfortunately not, the STEPS EYF programme are usually all oversubscribed. However we do keep a waiting list for programmes

How do I accept an offer?

You will get an offer via email with full instructions on how to accept your offer. The process involves filling in an acceptance form, ensuring your TY Coordinator and Parent/Guardian also fill in short online forms and making a payment where applicable.

How do I decline an offer?

If you have received an offer and do not wish to attend you will need to log in and choose ‘I will not be accepting my place’ or alternatively email steps@engineersireland.ie to let us know you will not be attending.