Leaving Cert for Mature Students?

Michael_OFlynn

I have already posted this in the Leaving Cert section, but I hope it does not contravene any rules to also ask about it here:

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A Canadian friend is considering immigrating to Ireland and becoming an Irish citizen. She missed the final year of her High School and is interested in the possibility of pursuing the Irish Leaving Cert as a mature student.

I know this makes for a complicated mixture, so if anyone can provide information on any of the following topics individually, I would be very grateful:

1) General information on studying for and taking the Leaving Cert as a mature student in Ireland. I really wouldn't know what advice to offer her regarding where to start, where to apply, how long it would take or how much it would cost.

2) Information on education rights for newly naturalised citizens (for example, through marriage). Would such a person need to wait a certain length of time after acquiring their citizenship before becoming eligible for any programs?

3) Any information on relevant financial issues would be appreciated. What are the likely costs for such programs, and are there typically government or council programs in place to offer financial assistance to mature students? If so, what are the conditions?

Like I said, I know it is a complicated issue, so if anyone is able to offer information on any aspect of it, I will be very grateful for the opportunity to try and piece all the parts of the puzzle together.

With Thanks,

Michael

kittycati

Hey, check out vtos leaving certificate courses.Prob best bet

happyturtle

Hi, I'm mature international student and I'm doing LC this year as an external student... In a week time
I'm not sure if it's what your friend wants to do, but the way I did it was: Apply for the exam online in January, you need to find an exam centre yourself (just any school that agrees to sit you), pay the fee (109 euro) and then just study on your own... Easy to say :cool: You receive a letter when and where your exams take place and you sit them with regular students. If your friend is looking for a school to prepare her for the exam I can't help I'm affraid...
If you have any further questions I'd be happy to help

maidonamission

Hi Michael, Can't help you out much around the immigration side of eligibility for things but I do work in Adult guidance and my usual advice to clients is to look at other courses than the leaving cert unless a) there is a particular course at university that they would require points to apply for or b) the job they want has a minimum ed requirement to do with the leaving cert.
I find that many adults are 'hung up' on not having done their school leaving exams, be it the LC or a foreign equivalent, and this stops them from seeing the huge range of other courses that are out there and that they are eligible to apply for. Anyone over the age of 21 is considered a mature student for PLC courses and 23 for the IT's and Universities. The majority of courses not only accept but welcome applications from mature students. It is best to look around at individual college websites or qualifax.ie is a good starting place.
I would be cautious about a VTOS LC as they tend to be the two year syllabus condensed into 1 year and can be a very heavy workload - the local VEC to my work routinely has 20+ students start the programme and only about 2-3 actually take the exams, not great plus they've used a year of their VTOS eligibility. Other than VTOS there doesn't tend to be any funding for LC programmes as the gov had/has a policy of not funding it as they think it would encourage people not to stay in regular school...
Another idea if your friend needed a particular grade in a subject for a career/course would be to just do one or two subjects as an evening course - you only need to do 6 or more subjects if you're looking for points.
Hope this helps!