cadetship, leaving cert requirements

winger11

hi im only 15 and i really want 2 join the army as an officer,
i havnt put much research into this at the moment but was wondering

what are the minimum leaving cert requirements to apply for a cadetship with the permenant defence force?

Witcher

winger11 wrote: »

hi im only 15 and i really want 2 join the army as an officer,
i havnt put much research into this at the moment but was wondering

what are the minimum leaving cert requirements to apply for a cadetship with the permenant defence force?

i think you have to have a degree, aswell as your LC.




:cool::cool::cool:

winger11

what kind of a degree? and do u need a third langauge on your leaving cert results?

Witcher

winger11 wrote: »

what kind of a degree? and do u need a third langauge on your leaving cert results?

i think its any 4 year degree, this is what i heard on here anyway.


i dont know about the third language


have a look here- www.military.ie it has info on cadetships

it says a third language is required and also you dont need a degree, they put you through

college instead

:cool::cool::cool:

burnedfaceman

a degree is not neccesary but there is extra marks in competition for having one, they only recognise level 8 degrees which are honours degrees which are 3 yrs long in nui colleges and 4 years long in its. the leaving cert standard required is in hand book, you need maths, english and irish and a third language but like i said its all in handbook for cadet competition

segaBOY

As far as I know this year they only took 1 entrant directly from the LC, others where taken while they were already in college or had degrees

If I was you I'd fill in my CAO and apply for the Cadets during 6th year, you will be given confirmation whether you got a place on the same day the CAO round 1 offers come out. Don't be dissappointed if you don't get in the Army prefer people with degrees nowadays,upped the points you get for having one this year in the interview (used to be 10 as far as I know, higher now=>more chance of getting a place with one), I'd keep applying throughout college thereafter if you didn't get a place.

Also, think about the degree you want to do, a degree in Civil Engineering etc may be more well suited to the DF than say Arts, and besides, if a vacancy comes up you may join as a Captain by direct entry in the Engineering Corps or other corps if you have a relevant degree (without needing to do a cadetship) but people have their own reservations about this.

Might be a good idea to join the Reserves when you hit 17 (you can apply when you are 16 I think, takes a good while to get through the paper work), this will earn you 2 points as a RDF private in the interview, not much but will help, also handy knowing how to march if you get accepted for a cadetship

AFAIK it may be easier to get a Cadetship for the Navy but I really am unsure about this, I know it it's a lot harder to get into the Air Corps than the Army anyway

See here http://www.military.ie/careers/booklets/CadetBook2008Eng.pdf

Best of luck

miss no stars

You need to pass English, Irish and a third language at a minimum of ordinary level (for the purpose of NUI matriculation). If you have an exemption from any of these subjects that will also follow through to the cadetship competition so there's no need to worry about that.
As far as grades go, you need a C3 in 3 higher papers and a D3 in any other papers at higher/ordinary level. It adds up to about 195 points if I recall.

You're better off getting a degree before you go in though as the term "glass ceiling" applies with respect to school leavers, now moreso than ever before.

neilled

Having a degree in any military will stand you in good stead. Whilst the minimum requirements are quite low, do remember you'll be competing with others who'll be wanting that cadetship as well, irregardless if your going for the DF, Britsh Army or whoever. The British army is a much larger force than the defence forces that specifies a minimum of two passes at A-Level to get in, (they take hundreds of officer cadets in a few different intakes each year to sandhurst versus the 55 per year across all three services of the DF) but according to their pr 85% of those commissioned these days are graduates. As leaving cert only you'd be at a distinct disadvantage particularly with the numbers that apply every year, you'll be competing with 13-15 other men and women for the place that you want.
Thats not to say there aren't leaving certers who've gotten in, I know of one at least.

If you go in as a school leaver, go to uni and then after a few years you want out then you owe the DF for your fees, materials etc that you have been supplied with during your time there.

Lockstep

Sorry to butt in here, but I'm currently in college. Doing an arts degree etc.

I'm an Irish citizen but I did my secondary education in Belgium and have the European Baccalaureate. I did pretty well overall and got 525 points but the only LEaving Cert degree I have is French at the highest level (A1) Basically the Irish government decided that it wasn't fair for Irish kids to have to study languages at the same level as the native speakers (in this case French), Irish kids were allowed to take the leaving cert in French so as if they failed French at Belgian school level, they could still get in to an Irish uni as they had achieved the leaving cert mark.

Does anyone here know how a foreign school exam works as regards to applying to the cadets?

miss no stars

International BAC is generally accepted. On the application form there's a section titled: If you have taken a second level examination, other than the Junior or Leaving Cert please give information below such as, school/ college attended, year and results.

I'm guessing they'll accommodate you.

Civil Def

In regards to segaBOY's comment on the fact that it is easier to get into the navy than the army i agree.
I have mates who were in the navy and army, they have told me that the navy is more rewarding and depending on your role you may see some ''action'', but despite this fewer applicants apply and fewer applicants are accepted - i heard only 8 into the operations branch last year.
Another friend went for a cadetship but was informed due to his eyesight he would only be assigned a desk job on land, he told me that many of the applicants have 450+ points and were turned down for one reason or another. A level 7 degree in nautical science/engenieering quallifies for naval service the same as a leaving cert...

Master-Decoy

getting a cadetship is no walk in the park and takes a lot more than 195 points! also, the navy is probably ok but you'll end up being based in cobh most likely,not a great spot and my dad's been there for 15 years.anything but a life less ordinary! go for your cadetship anyway,but apply for one with the navy,army and air force,also apply for regular recruitment in all these areas. The selection system is now computerized and you will be flagged as having applied for all of these sectors.This is really good when they go looking up your application. Also,you should probably call your local RDF barracks and get enrolled. Be sure its what you want to do with yourself,personally I'm off to the british army....but thats a different discussion altogether... :cool: goodluck with everything.

tribulus

As a matter of interest, what do people think of more bonus marks going for degree holders in the final interview for cadetships than already serving NCO's?

Could anyone explain the rationale behind this?

minidazzler

tribulus wrote: »

As a matter of interest, what do people think of more bonus marks going for degree holders in the final interview for cadetships than already serving NCO's?

Could anyone explain the rationale behind this?

Its all about the money and how fast they can get them serving. If you have a degree then you have no need to go through college for the Army.

NCO's would need to got one.

A stupid system but a logical one.

D-Generate

When I was doing the Leaving Cert, there was two guys in my year that were accepted in to the army cadets. If i remember correctly they found out that they had been accepted before even sitting the Leaving Cert. I think that they were accepted on condition of their results or something like that. They had an interview for the cadets sometime during the school year too but don't know when. That was 4 years ago now though so maybe it was different back then.

miss no stars

Can anyone clarify whether the bonus marks are an extra 10% altogether, or an extra 10% of the marks already accrued?

As for whether it's fair... In the cadet interviews you're asked to give examples of where you've shown leadership and certain characteristics that are relevant to life in the DF. A serving NCO will more than likely have more real experience to draw upon than a 22 year old fresh out of college will. Depending on the person, the NCO could easily out perform a graduate in the interviews.

burnedfaceman

its a flat 10% on top of whatever marks are achieved from aptitiude tests and interview

Lockstep

Is there a pass rate whereby you automatically get a cadetship? As in 70% means you become a cadet or whatever.

Or is it they take the people who scored the highest in the exams?

miss no stars

they combine the marks you get from all aspects of the competition - first interview, fitness, aptitude, group assesement and final interview - and then the people with the top 34-40 scores get a cadetship. another few are then put on a list of people to call if those offered the cadetship fail the medical or drop out in the first couple of weeks. If it's a strong year for application you might only finish 50th but the next year there might be half the number of applicants and you finish 20th. It depends on the competition year.

Civil Def

during the selection process what is more appealing to the examaiers huge points or a fit person with the ability and like for the army life. What are the odds of me getting selected at the age of 17 ??
Any advice would be greatly appreciated ...

burnedfaceman

they look for the total package .ie suitability to the role and army life and strong examples of the required competencies. the competition is quite tough the army took on 34 cadets this year out of 1231 applicants, I heard elsewhere that only one of the cadet class was straight out of school, with the rest being serving personnel, college students and college graduates.

calcaneous

Hi,Im interested in applin for an DF cadetship,but im studying medicine at the min.Is it possible to do a cadetship instead of going the direct entry route ,joining at the rank of captain? As well as this my eyesight is borderline within the standards set for the cadetship (in fact my right eye is worse) does this mean that i am limited to applying via the direct entry route or do the lower eyesight standards set for medical professionals apply to me???

miss no stars

I've heard of a medicine graduate who did the full cadetship rather than DE. It will stand to you no end that you want to do the full cadetship rather than shoot and salute.
Go see your optician with the requirements in hand and have your eyesight tested. They'll be able to tell you definitvely whether you meet the requirements and if you don't meet them, they may be able to suggest eye exercises to brign you up to standard.

Civil Def

[

quote=calcaneous;54938499]Hi,Im interested in applin for an DF cadetship,but im studying medicine at the min.Is it possible to do a cadetship instead of going the direct entry route ,joining at the rank of captain? As well as this my eyesight is borderline within the standards set for the cadetship (in fact my right eye is worse) does this mean that i am limited to applying via the direct entry route or do the lower eyesight standards set for medical professionals apply to me???

[/QUOTE]
I know of a lad who was studing in nui galway [building and construction management] and applied for a cadetship. He passed all the interviews and tests. He was taken out of nui did his training as a cadet and was sent back to nui to complete the course [fully paid for by the DF]:cool::cool:

Lockstep

segaBOY wrote: »

As far as I know this year they only took 1 entrant directly from the LC, others where taken while they were already in college or had degrees

I just met a friend of mine today who was a school leaver whos in the cadets.
I felt chuffed reading the yokes on here as I felt I was pals with the only LC cadet.

I was talking to him anyway and I asked was he the only one, he said no.
That there are 7 or 8 of them in the class, all fresh from the leaving cert.

ChapOfDRyans

if you meet all the requirements for the application but are in the middle of doing your leaving cert can you still apply

burnedfaceman

yes you can apply provided, you get the required leaving cert results in august