How to go from PLC to Uni

Pronto63 · 28-09-2021 9:13pm #1

My daughter didn’t get the points for nursing so she’s now doing a Pre-Nursing PLC. She needs to get distinctions to get into a nursing course in Uni.

I know that there aren’t enough Uni places for all students that might get distinctions. So my question is how do the colleges select the PLC students that progress?

I heard recently that students that get all distinctions are entered into a lottery for college places. Is this true?

I would have thought that the places would go to the students with the highest marks.

Anyone know the truth?

rainbowtrout · 28-09-2021 10:40pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058210886/how-to-go-from-plc-to-uni

There are a certain number of places within the CAO system reserved for PLC students on various courses, nursing courses being part of that. Pre-Nursing is one of the more popular PLC courses out there with an obvious route to progression. The allocation of places in the courses operates in a similar manner to the regular CAO points. So if NUIG have 10 places reserved on their nursing course for PLC students and 15 PLC students apply for the course then the 10 with the highest points get the places.

The problem is that the top score in PLC is 400 points, as a Distinction is worth 50 points and you count your best 8 modules. It isn't uncommon to achieve 400 points, so like the regular CAO points race, taking my example above, if 12 of the 15 students scored 400 points then places would be offered to 10 of them based on random selection.

The problem is that because the CAO points for nursing have risen over the years and are now well over 400, you have quite a few students who miss out on a place, and decide to go the PLC route. Students with a very good Leaving Cert who are more than capable of producing 400 points in the PLC course. So random selection can occur as a result.

rainbowtrout · 29-09-2021 9:27pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117954552#Comment_117954552

No. It's actually the same application as the regular CAO. She picks her courses in order 1-10 for Level 8, and then if she wants for the Level 6/7. There is somewhere on the form to indicate that she is a PLC student, and also she can indicate that she has a Leaving Cert from 2021, and she should fill in both of those boxes. Essentially that means she gets two bites of the cherry. She is entering into the system as a regular LC student with her 2021 results for the 2022 intake for college, but also with a set of PLC results that means she's eligible for the places reserved for PLC students. Given that it doesn't cost her any extra and it can only improve her chances to have two sets of results in the mix, she should definitely tick the box for LC results from a previous year as well as entering as a PLC student.

This list might be a bit of an eye opener in terms of the number of places that are actually reserved for PLC Nursing students and would confirm why a score of 400 in the PLC course is necessary to have a chance.

http://www2.cao.ie/fetac/FETACNursingQuota.pdf

Also have a read through the Progression Routes to Higher Level Education section on this page which details what I have said above.

https://careersportal.ie/school/plc_courses.php