Plans to repeat Leaving Certificate

Yorky

Can anyone advise on the prospect of possibly repeating the Leaving Certificate for a child about to enter Transition Year?

They want to study veterinary medicine in UCD and the points level this year is 585 and there is a strong possibility they would not achieve that at the first attempt.

UCD School of Veterinary Medicine have suggested they could do the Leaving Certificate twice, focusing on the entry requirements in one attempt and the points level in the other. The combination would then hopefully meet the entry requirements.

When repeating the Leaving Certificate would 5th and 6th year have to be repeated?

The alternative is the 4-year graduate programme which is also highly competitive with fees of €19,500 PA.

Any other thoughts on this? Thanks in advance

poisonoak

I think the first thing to consider is whether or not they will still want to study vet med in a few years time as many change their minds during their final years. What someone is interested in at 15/16 is not necessarily what they will want to spend the rest of their life doing.

If they are set on vet med then would they consider going straight into fifth year so that if they repeat they won't spend seven years in secondary school? Or going to a school that uses fourth year to cover the leaving cert course so that they have three years to cover the course?

Only sixth year needs to be repeated to repeat the leaving cert but they need to keep in mind that some of the material such as English plays, novels and other courses may change from the year they first take the leaving cert to when they repeat.

Repeating sixth year is not an easy decision to make as it can be very difficult to watch friends leave for college, to feel finished with school and still have to go back, and to keep focused and motivated for an extra year especially if the person has worked very hard for two years beforehand. There is also a possibility that they won't get vet med even if they do repeat.

It's a big decision to make this early on and for that reason they may be better off going into sixth year and giving it their best shot and only repeating if necessary.

dcam

Poisonoak has already made some very valid comments. I'd just like to answer your question in relation to having two go's off the Leaving Cert. I think it would be a very good idea for your child to sit all of their ordinary level subjects at the end of 5th year. eg. if they plan on doing OL Irish/French/English. This works for every course except medicine so if they still want to do veterinary medicine this time next year it would be a very wise strategy for them to get their OL subjects out of the way. Then they can just concentrate on their points subjects in 6th year. Then if they still need to repeat after that they can repeat their points subjects but they might surprise you and get it the first time.:)

SellingJuan

No you just repeat 6th year. If they want to do that course then they should pick 2 subjects to learn during ty e.g maths and another. Having learned these two subjects is a huge advantage going into the leaving cert. Also practicle subjects are easier in a way because you can have half the exam done before you sit it. Like construciton studies, engineering. Best of luck.