Exemption Question

Does anybody know anything about Irish exemptions? I think I may be eligible, but I just have a small problem.

If I were to get an exemption (Irish being my only other language, bar English), would I still have to have another secondary language to get into Trinity? Or would my exemption count as the requirement?

Thanks.

PurpleFistMixer

Google is your friend. (Though that link may not work for you, if you type "Irish exemption leaving certificate" into google it's like... the second response.)

Dunno what the story with TCD is, afaik they already count Irish as a foreign language, so I dunno what the story with exemptions are. To me it'd logically make sense that if your exemption from Irish was due to a learning disability, you'd be exempt from having to do any foreign language, and if it was due to not living in Ireland, then you'd be only exempt from doing Irish, but that's just my own logic so it's probably not how they do it at all. : )

PurpleFistMixer

PurpleFistMixer wrote: »

Google is your friend. (Though that link may not work for you, if you type "Irish exemption leaving certificate" into google it's like... the second response.)

Dunno what the story with TCD is, afaik they already count Irish as a foreign language, so I dunno what the story with exemptions are. To me it'd logically make sense that if your exemption from Irish was due to a learning disability, you'd be exempt from having to do any foreign language, and if it was due to not living in Ireland, then you'd be only exempt from doing Irish, but that's just my own logic so it's probably not how they do it at all. : )

Thanks for your reply PurpleFistMixer, yah I had read all the info that was published about it, there just wasn't any information regarding it's position with college requirements (Maybe there was and I'm just completely blind).

My exemption wouldn't be due to either: a teacher today told me that they (Whatever organisation controls this kinda thing) can give a student an exemption if they are struggling with Irish to an extreme degree, which I am, kind of (My problem with Irish arises out of my refusal to do it for the past decade). But my fear is that I'd still need a secondary language with an exemption that isn't due to a learning disability. If that's the case I think I can kiss my thoughts of college goodbye!

implausible

-JammyDodger- wrote: »

I think I may be eligible, but I just have a small problem.
Thanks.

You'd want to find out first before you go any further. Did you get it for the JC? If it's an exemption because you moved from another country, that won't change. However, if it's for a specific learning difficulty, you'd need the psychological report to be fairly recent, as the one for your JC may be out of date.

If you do have an exemption, contact the admissions offices of the colleges you're interested in, they should know.

rainbowtrout

-JammyDodger- wrote: »

My problem with Irish arises out of my refusal to do it for the past decade). But my fear is that I'd still need a secondary language with an exemption that isn't due to a learning disability. If that's the case I think I can kiss my thoughts of college goodbye!

You won't get an exemption for Irish if you don't have a specific disability preventing you from learning the language or you haven't recently come to Ireland from a foreign country. You say your problem arises from your refusal to do it.... is this not your fault then?

If students just went around refusing to do subjects and then getting exemptions in them the entry requirements would be a farce.

Why don't you just put your head in your books and aim for a D3 at ordinary level and accept the fact that you have to do it.

I saw plenty of students drop to Foundation Level Irish last year on the day because they couldn't be bothered, then got on better than they thought but had ended up ruling themselves out of courses as they didn't meet requirements.

I assume if you want to go to Trinity that you have the ability to gain a good set of results in the LC as most of the courses there are in demand and have high enough points, so this probably isn't about your lack of ability.... you'll probably just have to start studying/get grinds like the rest of the country.

I may sound harsh but you don't deserve an exemption if you just can't be bothered to work at the subject.

implausible

-JammyDodger- wrote: »

.My exemption wouldn't be due to either: a teacher today told me that they (Whatever organisation controls this kinda thing) can give a student an exemption if they are struggling with Irish to an extreme degree, which I am, kind of (My problem with Irish arises out of my refusal to do it for the past decade).

Your teacher is wrong, you can't just get an exemption because you find it hard. They have tightened up a lot on this in the last few years. If you did if for JC, you have to do it for LC. Cop on and the put the head down!

rainbowtrout

rainbowtrout wrote: »

You won't get an exemption for Irish if you don't have a specific disability preventing you from learning the language or you haven't recently come to Ireland from a foreign country. You say your problem arises from your refusal to do it.... is this not your fault then?

If students just went around refusing to do subjects and then getting exemptions in them the entry requirements would be a farce.

Why don't you just put your head in your books and aim for a D3 at ordinary level and accept the fact that you have to do it.

I saw plenty of students drop to Foundation Level Irish last year on the day because they couldn't be bothered, then got on better than they thought but had ended up ruling themselves out of courses as they didn't meet requirements.

I assume if you want to go to Trinity that you have the ability to gain a good set of results in the LC as most of the courses there are in demand and have high enough points, so this probably isn't about your lack of ability.... you'll probably just have to start studying/get grinds like the rest of the country.

I may sound harsh but you don't deserve an exemption if you just can't be bothered to work at the subject.

Thanks for your reply.

Yes I know, you're completely right. But you see, I didn't want to do it in primary school, and teachers eventually just accepted that I didn't want to do it. When you're 8 or 11 years old and you can easily enough get off doing a subject you hate - you'll accept their letting you not study it happily. Someone so young can't visualise any future repercussions of their decisions. That view continued up until TY basically: until I started wondering where I wanted to go in life etc. At that stage I had such a low level of Irish my choices were confined to IT's (As I stupidly didn't study a European language for the same reasons I didn't study Irish). But now I'm back repeating this year, with one of my intentions being to scrape a D3 at ordinary level. And I'm finding it next to impossible with relatively large amounts of dedication. So without an exemption I can't see myself studying anything remotely interesting (In my opinion) at college. Hence, my problem.

Fionnanc

Look up matriculation requirements for NUI and TCD.
TCD accept Irish as a foreign language, NUI don't so without a language other than IRish you can't get into NUI.
Do this year's LC, use it for points and then take a year out to cram for honours Irish and a honours European language to meet matriculation requirements.

zonEEE

Fionnanc wrote: »

Look up matriculation requirements for NUI and TCD.
TCD accept Irish as a foreign language, NUI don't so without a language other than IRish you can't get into NUI.
Do this year's LC, use it for points and then take a year out to cram for honours Irish and a honours European language to meet matriculation requirements.

im fairly sure if you repeat then you want use the points, you can only use the grades.

rainbowtrout

-JammyDodger- wrote: »

Thanks for your reply.

Yes I know, you're completely right. But you see, I didn't want to do it in primary school, and teachers eventually just accepted that I didn't want to do it. When you're 8 or 11 years old and you can easily enough get off doing a subject you hate - you'll accept their letting you not study it happily. Someone so young can't visualise any future repercussions of their decisions. That view continued up until TY basically: until I started wondering where I wanted to go in life etc. At that stage I had such a low level of Irish my choices were confined to IT's (As I stupidly didn't study a European language for the same reasons I didn't study Irish). But now I'm back repeating this year, with one of my intentions being to scrape a D3 at ordinary level. And I'm finding it next to impossible with relatively large amounts of dedication. So without an exemption I can't see myself studying anything remotely interesting (In my opinion) at college. Hence, my problem.

No child at the age of 8 should be allowed to make the decision to give up a language, and parents/teachers shouldn't let it happen either... but that's a whole other debate.


You have a couple of choices and one of them is not exemption because it simply isn't going to happen, whatever advice you were given by your teacher is incorrect as deemark already said. If you are struggling you get an exemption but this is together with a psychological report and you would probably have already been assessed as a student in need of some sort of extra tuition, usually it tends to be in English and Maths, and Irish is then often given as an exemption. As you said you don't have a problem elsewhere so it's not going to happen.

If you are repeating this year you can take Irish and hope for the D3 or take up a foreign language at ordinary level and hope for the D3. Both Trinity and UL accept the Irish or foreign language for entry requirements.


The other thing you can do is be constructive about the way you gain marks ... look at the breakdown of marks for oral/aural/paper 1 and paper 2.... if i remember rightly the prose and poetry is all paper 2 and is worth about 16-18%, not a whole lot in the greater scheme of things, however there are a lot of marks to be picked up in the oral and aural where at least for the oral you can learn off information on certain topics, examiners will be sympathetic to a weak ordinary level student and give them a chance to use whatever they have learned... get plenty of practice on listening comprehensions and get someone to help you put together some broad essays that cover a wide range of topics. Learn them off and use them on the day... it's not a nice way of approaching a subject but a means to an end.

The rest of paper one as far as i'm aware is comprehensions, for the most part i'd imagine if you get clued in on layout you should be ok, it will be of the type question 1 is based on paragraph one etc etc... approach it in a way that you can maximmise your chances of passing rather than stressing over learning a whole language which you're not realistically going to do at this stage.

rainbowtrout

strongr wrote: »

im fairly sure if you repeat then you want use the points, you can only use the grades.

points come from your best 6 subjects in any one sitting of the LC. Grades for matriculation can come from any year you have sat the LC for any course except for Medicine from 2009

MathsManiac

1. You have already demonstrated (in your first post) that you have the capacity to compose at least four coherent consecutive sentences in your mother tongue.

2. You believe you have sufficient intellectual capacity to study at university.

On the basis of these two indicators alone, you should have no difficulty learning enough Irish in six months to get a D3 at ordinary level.

I suggest you get on with it!