Question about FETAC

sarah+1

A friend of mine wants to do Arts in Maynooth but didnt get the points. She now wants to apply through FETAC and looked up the NUIM website and that said she could do Liberal arts. Where can she do this and what does it entail?
I was on the Rathmines College website and it gives different course modules than the FETAC website. Could someone tell me how this works? please

implausible

She can do Liberal Arts in Rathmines.

FETAC access to 3rd level works in two ways:

1. a limited number of places are held in certain courses e.g. Arts, for FETAC students. The students with the highest marks get these places

2. some colleges e.g. Maynooth operate a Higher Links Scheme where students can use their FETAC results as points. This is the easier way to get in.

She needs to check this out as my info is from co-ordinating a FETAC course in a different part of the country.

Tbh, she would be keeping her options far more open if she just repeated the Leaving. Did she get high marks in the subjects she wishes to pursue in Arts?

Further Ed.

There are two ways for students who complete FETAC courses to use their points from the FETAC course instead of their Leaving Cert points to gain access to courses in Universities and Institutes of Technology. In this case where your friend is hoping to get onto a Level 8 Degree course she must do a named FETAC Award of which there are a number and it is not just Liberal Arts – there are several others. The following are the names FETAC Awards that are linked to the NUI Maynooth Arts degree - these are listed on the CAO website at http://www2.cao.ie/fetac/fetac_search2.php

ECHSX – Cultural and Heritage Studies
ELESX – Language and European Studies
ECAXX – Community Arts
EPJXX – Print Journalism
ELAXX – Liberal Arts
BALBX - Advanced Certificate in Applied Languages & Business

The codes eg ECHSX are used by the Universities instead of the name of the course as different PLC/FEcolleges call the courses different names sometimes for marketing purposes they call it Pre-University Arts.

Within each FETAC Award (the term for the full course) a student must complete at least 8 modules (subjects) to gain a full award - a certain number of these modules are mandatory eg Communications and Work Experience are common to all FETAC awards and then the elective modules are decided upon by the college. So just like the Leaving Cert you will have your common subjects (mandatory modules) and then you will complete a number of other modules to bring your total number up to 8 modules which is the minimum for a full award and what you would need to be able to qualify to apply for a place at NUI Maynooth.

For the list of mandatory modules per award see http://www.fetac.ie/guide/level5_index_certs.htm
So once you have established the awards you need for the degree you wish to pursue then it is time to establish the modules that you need to complete and what grades you need in them.

On the CAO website (http://www2.cao.ie/fetac/fetac_search2.php) and the relevant information from the Universities eg NUI Maynooth they use the code of the module rather than the name. So you need to check out the code listed by NUI Maynooth and put names to them (available from http://www.fetac.ie/guide/level5_index_mod.htm)

So you can see that a student has different FETAC awards they can do in order to apply to NUI Maynooth for a place on the Arts degree. There are 25 places reserved in Maynooth for students with FETAC awards and they dont compete with Leaving Cert students for these places - in fact they get their offer from the CAO in Round Zero which took place last week. Students can also apply for Arts in UCD or NUI Galway or Cork with some of the above awards.

As to where you can do these FETAC Awards – it is worthwhile checking out the FE colleges in Dublin – www.cdvec.ie. But make sure that you get the FETAC code of the course and double check the code of the modules on offer – get this in writing or by email from the FE college as for marketing purposes many of them change course names.

It sound complicated but it isn’t and it becoming a very popular route to getting into degree courses if you miss out on the points. Students will complete the CAO application form as normal but instead of ticking Leaving Cert they will use the section for FETAC applicants and they will be processed earlier than the Leaving Cert students.

Best of luck to you and your friend