Previous third level education question

Birdyblue

Hey! I was hoping someone might be able to help me with some advise.

I am applying to college through CAO this year as a mature student and I am also not Irish. So there's been a lot of confusion on my side. Most of my questions were answered, I believe, but I still struggle with an issue.

The CAO online form requires applicants to disclose information about their previous third level education, whether they have completed, failed or withdrew. They also must submit documents to prove this.

My problem is I have attended third level education in the past, in a different EU country, I haven't attended the last examinations as I had lost interest and decided that was not what I wanted to do in the future. I never dropped out officially so I do not have any kind of documents to certify my attendance or anything. Since this happened years ago, and I no longer live there anyway, I am no longer able to obtain this kind of documents.

I first wrote to CAO asking whether to providing these documents would put my application at some risk and they told me that I should contact the Admissions Offices, and if they have nothing against it, it's fine. But the Admissions Office simply pointed out in a couple words that "all documents must be sent to CAO". This didn't answer any of my questions and doubts.

So I'm still wondering, should I mention my past college education history in my CAO application (without any supporting documents), or should I just omit this detail completely? What exactly could be the risk and why is it important, since I have not studied in Ireland before and since those courses are not related in any way to the one I am applying for this year.

Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated.

melanie76c

Hi Birdyblue,

I found this information which seems to be relevant to your situation on: http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/education/third_level_education/fees_and_supports_for_third_level_education/maintenance_grant_schemes_for_students_on_third_level_courses.html

"There are detailed conditions about the level of the course you are attending; whether you have attended a course at the same level already; and whether the course represents progression from your previous studies.

In general, you will not get a grant for repeating a year or attending a course at a level that does not represent progression from what you have done before. However, second-chance students may be eligible for a grant. A second-chance student is someone who is aged over 23, did not successfully complete an earlier course and is returning to pursue an approved course after at least 5 years.

If you qualify for a maintenance grant, you will qualify for all relevant elements of a fee grant. You may qualify for a fee grant, but not a maintenance grant, if you are what is called a tuition student under the Student Grant Scheme.

A tuition student is someone who fulfils all the conditions for a student grant except for residence in the State, but who has been resident in an EEA state or Switzerland for 3 of the last 5 years."

So it would seem the main reason for the need of this information is whether or not you are entitled to the grant. If you have not received a Grant in Ireland in the past, I can't see that it will make any difference to you, IMHO.