Thinking on going to college due to no work..

ClarkyTrd

Hey,

I'm 22 and been out of work over two year, now I'm thinking on going to college in September to do a course on fitness instructing and leisure management, the course is a year long.

I would love to go on and do third level education the following year and do something in the line of mechanical / electrical engineering or something like that.

How do I go about applying for both, and what grants / allowances am I entitled to?

I'm receiving job seekers allowance at present, and have only done the leaving certificate applied so I've no CAO points if you understand me.

Thanks,
John

paperclip2

Hi John,

Just a couple of points. Is the fitness Instructing course a FETAC level 5? If so you should be ok to apply for that with a Leaving Cert Applied. In some cases you can use a full FETAC level 5 cert as the basis to apply for college as a FETAC applicant although the FETAC course often needs to be related to the third level course you wish to study.

If you decide not to apply as a FETAC applicant you won’t be considered a mature student until you turn 23 and what this means is that until then you will need Leaving Cert points to get a college place. If you turn 23 sometime this year you will be eligible to apply as a Mature applicant in 2013.

If you are looking at doing something in the engineering line you could think about doing a FETAC level 5 course related to this area. Also having good evidence of a decent ability in Maths would help your application.

Applications for FETAC courses is generally directly to the PLC College offering the course. Most places are accepting applications around now.

Application for third level is generally through the CAO.

As regards funding, as you are on Jobseekers you would be eligible to apply for a BTEA allowance for full-time study if you have at least three months on Jobbseekers prior to starting the Level 5 course. For third level the time period rises to 9 months.

Tuition fees for PLC and third level courses are covered at present although you will probably have to pay a registration fee for the PLC. You can get about €200 of this covered through a fee grant. The registration fee for third level is €2250 and you can have all of this covered, again, through a fee grant.

More info on funding is available from http://www.studentfinance.ie or the Citizens Information website:
http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/education/third_level_education/fees_and_supports_for_third_level_education/

Hope this helps

mckazzie

Hi, Im in the same boat. I am looking to go back to do Management FETAC Level 6. Its a 1 year course. I would be going back as a mature student. I am receiving the one parent family and half rate job seekers at the moment.

I am lost when it comes to grants, back to education etc and would be grateful for any advice.

Muir

I think if you're thinking about the Engineering route & you've done the LCA you're probably going to need some sort of maths course to help you on your way, since going from the Leaving Cert straight to Engineering you need a Higher Level C3 or above to get in. Though it's possible to maybe do a level 7 without such a strong maths requirement & work up. But having maths will really help.

How come you're thinking fitness instruction & leisure management, & then Engineering? Just curious as they seem quite different.

Once you turn 23 you should get Back to Education, so fees paid & your social welfare money each week as far as I know (someone correct me if I'm wrong). But I don't know what you would be entitled to before then.

ClarkyTrd

Thanks for the reply, my main priority is to join the Defence Forces but IF not then I'd like to do a PLC course, Im not 23 till November of this year so I wont qualify as a mature student till next year.

And the only decent course that I have any real interest in is in my local college, and that is the Gym & Leisure Management.

I know where your coming from regarding the maths and wanting to do Engineering, ideally yes I would need to be pretty strong at maths going into the Engineering course. Is there any kind of relevant course to that without having to be so strong at maths as I wouldnt be a strong minded maths person lol...

Muir

I think if you start at a level 7 (DIT & Tallaght IT do them & probably other places too) they focus on bringing your maths up to scratch at the beginning as far as I know. I'm sure there are maths related PLC courses though.

You can apply for a grant, but you probably wont be entitled to any social welfare payments while in college before you turn 23.

You could also maybe sit the LC maths exam? Like study it in your own time or do an evening class while doing your PLC.