New to educational system in Ireland

NKRF

Hi lads

I'm not quite sure if this is the right forum, if not, please direct me somewhere else. I've spent a lot of time researching this and I'm still not sure where to start.

I'm a Danish woman (26, that makes me a mature student here as well as far as I can tell) who's lived and worked in Ireland (NI/ROI) for the past five years and now I've decided to get my qualifications as a chef. I'd prefer to do that in the south, but I've absolutely no idea where to start. I started travelling/working when I was young and thus didn't finish your equivalent to secondary school (now, that's my limit of how things work in the Irish educational system).

I've never needed that to go to college in Denmark, I've been to Hospitality College and Agricultural College, all I needed was to pass a basic written and oral language test. I've been taken in based on experience rather than grades.
How does it work here? You seem to have a lot of independent courses and a few full time courses from different colleges but I've no idea which place I should contact, what level I should inquire about as I've no idea what all the 'QQ something something levels' mean.
I've worked in front of house and in the kitchen as both a porter and chef, but short lived so I'd have to start from scratch.

To receive student grants from the Danish government it'd have to be a full time course, I think it's 2 or 3 years half and half classes/internships and I can't really find anything that fits the bill.
The only place is in Dublin and I'd rather end up anywhere but there. It's too expensive and big for my liking. Impossible to get a place and I've family in Ireland so I'm not about to share with 18 year olds.

If you guys could help point me in the right direction it'd be much appreciated!

Tom Dunne

You are correct, as an EU citizen, over 23 years of age, you qualify as a mature student, therefore the Leaving Certificate results are not needed. It's usually just an interview.

The QQI levels go all the way up to 10, which is a PhD. Level 5 is considered Leaving Certificate, so at a guess, I would imagine in the hospitality sector, you would need at least a Level 6, which is usually a 2-year, full-time course.

Depending on what part of the country you are in, start looking at the Institutes of Technology: Dundalk, Athlone, Sligo, Letterkenny, Galway, Limerick, Tralee, Cork, Waterford and Carlow. There is a particularly good catering college in Shannon (can't for the life of me think of the name of it).

See how you get on and fire up any questions you have.

NKRF

Thanks a lot for the reply - it's been a very busy week so I haven't had time to look into it, but I will today and I'll probably be back to ask more!