Third Level Help??

sirboby

Hi, i am still in secondary school (3rd year) and i am wondering what kind of coarse i am going to do after school.

To start i don't understand bachelor's, degree's, PhD's, etc. what do you start with and what do you have to work up to. (in other words whats the highest to lowest)

Secondly im stuck on what course to do, i know i want to do something to do with computer Science but there is so many options.

Third i don't understand the level 8/7/6 course's.

Im currently doing Math, English, German, Geography, History, Science, Art and Business all honors and Irish at pass level. (if this helps at all)
I am really good at math, im good at Science, Art and Business. I am not great at any of the 3 languages (im finding it hard to scrape a B in Honors English)

Again this this last part may be completely irrelevant.

ididthemathtom

sirboby wrote: »

Hi, i am still in secondary school (3rd year) and i am wondering what kind of coarse i am going to do after school.

To start i don't understand bachelor's, degree's, PhD's, etc. whatg do you start with and what do you have to work up to. (in other words whats the highest to lowest)

Secondly im stuck on what course to do, i know i want to do something to do with computer Science but there is so many options.

Third i don't understand the level 8/7/6 course's.

Im currently doing Math, English, German, Geography, History, Science, Art and Business all honors and Irish at pass level. (if this helps at all)
I am really good at math, im good at Science, Art and Business. I am not great at any of the 3 languages (im finding it hard to scrape a B in Honors English)

Again this this last part may be completely irrelevant.

Firstly, you don't need to worry about what you're doing yet. I changed my mind a few times in fifth year, then again in sixth year. I tossed a coin for what I wanted, between two courses I wasn't sure of. Most people have no idea until sixth year and that is OK, your guidance counselor can help with that. Lots of people still don't know by the time they graduate.


Anyways. The 8/7/6 things are called FETAC levels. FETAC levels refer to how high up something is in the education system. You do not have to go through every level, and it would take you years if you tried.

The leaving cert is a FETAC level 5 course. You can take FETAC level 5 courses elsewhere if you haven't sat the leaving cert.

PLC courses stand for Post Leaving Cert, and you might see them thrown around. Typically these are level 5 or 6 and last for one year.

Ordinary Bachelor's Degrees are level 7, and vary in duration. I think two or three years is standard, but I'm not sure. They're lower points in the CAO and less beneficial in the job market than an Honours degree, but they can be a good means of getting into a good level 8 course if you didn't get what you wanted.

Honours Bachelor's Degrees are level 8 and things are three or four year courses. Most people going to college have these as their first choice, and it would be unusual to have it otherwise. If people don't specify what level the degree they're taking is, odds are it's this one. The points can be competitive, but in general, provided you work hard and do your best, you should be able to get something you can be happy with.

Masters degrees are level 9. Typically one to two years, they are an advancement of whatever you did in your bachelor's degree, the level 8. Note you do not need to take a masters degree to move on to a PhD, but you do, as far as I'm aware, need a level 8 degree.

PhDs are level 10, and consist of conducting your own research into your field to produce new information, or in science at least they do. Can't say much for other disciplines.

sirboby

This cleared up a lot of things, thank you.

Tom Dunne

This explains the various levels very well: http://www.nfq-qqi.com/index.html

sirboby

Helped