Where can I study A-Level ?

JewelMin13

Hi there,

I'm an international student. Well, I want to continue my studying in Dublin, Ireland next year when I finish my last grade in Vietnam.

I need A-Level Certificate in order to get a place in DCU. But, where can I study A-Level ? And where can I take the exam ?


If you know any information about it, please reply me. Thanks in advance.

Solus01

You can do them in the Dublin Tutorial Centre but there is pretty hefty fees.
Can I ask why your doing them if you've finished secondary school/high school in Vietnam? DCU will accept your grades/exam results from your Vietnamese school, just give them an email and ask about the entry requirements for you.
By the way, just incase you don't know, Dublin has a few other unis in it:
University College Dublin-UCD
Trinity College Dublin-TCD
Royal College of Surgeons-RSCI (Only offer health science courses i.e Medcine, Physiotherapy etc.)
Dublin Institute of Technology-DIT
There the main ones.

Chuchoter

Your vietnamese qualifications should be grand, just give them a ring and ask what the situation is. I know that A levels is all they talk about in the prospectus but they do accept everything else as well

JewelMin13

Firstly, thank you 2 guy for answering my question. Yes, I found where can I study A-Level in Dublin but I suppose that there is only DTC has A-Level course.

I intend to apply for Nursing undergraduate course in DCU. I saw the entry requirement and they mention about A-Level.

Entry Requirements:
Leaving Certificate
In addition to the general entry requirements for admission to the university the following entry requirements apply:

OD3 or HD3 in Mathematics PLUS OD3 or HD3 in one of Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Physics with Chemistry, Agricultural Science

GCE A Level
In addition to the general entry requirements for admission to the university the following entry requirements apply:

GCE A-Level D or GCE AS-Level D or GCSE C Mathematics plus GCE A-Level D or GCE AS-Level D or GCSE C in one of Physics, Chemistry, Biology

Well, I also know all the college/university that Solus01 mentioned above.

Trinity has Nursing course but International Office Header told me that '' Vietnam Leaving Certificate is not sufficient to consider ... '' . And the fee for Nursing course in TCD is more expensive than DCU.

All applicants of Nursing course must apply through http://cao.ie .

I also emailed Internation Office of DCU and asked them ' Do I need to take A-Level ' but I dont know why they dont focus on my wondering ).

Solus01

JewelMin13 wrote: »

Firstly, thank you 2 guy for answering my question. Yes, I found where can I study A-Level in Dublin but I suppose that there is only DTC has A-Level course.

I intend to apply for Nursing undergraduate course in DCU. I saw the entry requirement and they mention about A-Level.




Well, I also know all the college/university that Solus01 mentioned above.

Trinity has Nursing course but International Office Header told me that '' Vietnam Leaving Certificate is not sufficient to consider ... '' . And the fee for Nursing course in TCD is more expensive than DCU.

All applicants of Nursing course must apply through http://cao.ie .

I also emailed Internation Office of DCU and asked them ' Do I need to take A-Level ' but I dont know why they dont focus on my wondering ).

Here's a link to the general entry requirements for any course in UCD, Vietnam is listed down the bottom: https://myucd.ucd.ie/htmlemailupload/File/Admissions/2010_2011/non_eu/asia.pdf

Also since you not from an EU country, you don't apply through CAO, you will have to apply directly to the college you want to go to.

Also I don't where you saw that your exams aren't accepted in Trinity, I searched the website and didn't see anything like that so I would advise emailing them and telling them your situation.

The bottom line is, email the universities you want to go to and they will tell you the correct information.

JewelMin13

Ah, I read that link but it's so funny when they require 1 or 2 year degree university mean while, I intend to go to Ireland to study in University. By the way, tuition fee for Nursing course in UCD is the highest.

Well, I emailed to DCU and they told me all Nursing applicants ( EU and non-EU ) must apply through CAO. I wonder why there are some courses have to apply through CAO ?.


Thank you for replying me.

Solus01

JewelMin13 wrote: »

Ah, I read that link but it's so funny when they require 1 or 2 year degree university mean while, I intend to go to Ireland to study in University. By the way, tuition fee for Nursing course in UCD is the highest.

Well, I emailed to DCU and they told me all Nursing applicants ( EU and non-EU ) must apply through CAO. I wonder why there are some courses have to apply through CAO ?.


Thank you for replying me.

I checked DCU and they said that you need to apply directly, I could be wrong though. Can I ask why you want to come to Ireland to study Nursing? Can you not do it in your home country or even the UK? I don't know if you know this but Ireland is pretty much in the economic dumps at the moment and jobs are very tough to come by especially in the Healthcare sector where people are being layed off constantly. Also, you do know that you might not even get a job after univeristy, Irish and other EU students are placed first as far as I know. I am by no means an expert on Nursing here in Ireland, so anyone, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

JewelMin13

How to Apply and Closing Dates

EU and Non-EU School Leavers/FETAC Level 5/Transfer Applicants
Apply through the CAO by 1st February or 1st May

http://www.dcu.ie/prospective/deginfo.php?classname=BNGN&degree_description=B.Sc.+in+Nursing+%28General%29+%28Bachelor+Honours+Degree%29 --> they said that.

In my homecountry - Vietnam, there is NO ONE want to study university here because of many reasons that maybe you can't image.

Well, I know the economic situation in Ireland now :-s. But, in Ireland I have my aunt and uncle and my family want me to have a better place to study. I hope that after 4 years, the economy in Dublin could be improved some parts :-s.

Amantine

Just wanted to reply in case anyone is reading this looking for information on the Dublin Tutorial Centre.
It's the only school for A-Levels in Ireland and having studied there I would like to warn anyone thinking of studying there. Please research this school first. Talk to the tutors and don't hand over any money until you satisfied with the level of teaching. The staff there are very friendly but completely clueless on how to run a school efficiently. The teaching is OK at best depending on which A-levels you're doing. Also keep in mind that unlike what is says on the website you can not turn in written work as part of your assessment, this will make it very difficult to achieve good grades in the competitive A-level system. The classes a very small and this is for a good reason: most of the student do not return for the second year. The teachers are very dedicated but this is no use if the actual quality of the teaching is lacking. I hesitated between DTC and The Institute on lesson street, I wish I'd gone for the latter, it's cheaper and I wouldn't have wasted a year.

JewelMin13

Dear Amantine ,

Thank for your feedback about DTC. I've wondered alots about DTC.

The Institute you mentioned is http://ioe.ie right ? If It's true, I will study for leaving cert there.

Are you an international student in Ireland ?

spurious

JewelMin - please be careful about taking an anonymous Internet opinion as true. For all we know, Amantine may have some connection with the business that he/she recommends.

Perhaps he/she doesn't, but you don't know that. None of us do.

I could just as easily post that the DTC is a fantastic place and I highly recommend it - would you change your decision on that?

JewelMin13

Spurious : Im not sure about that '~' . By the way, thanks for your information . I believe in you more base on your profile.

If you have any exprience about DTC, please let me know. I suppose that DTC is my last hope to study A-Level in Dublin, Ireland.

Moreover, can I talk wt you about CAO ?

spurious

JewelMin - just to clarify, I don't know anything really about DTC, all I can say is that it is accredited by many UK examining boards and accreditiation is not easy to get.

Regarding the CAO, please ask any questions you like, though I'm sure most of the regular posters know more about their procedures than I do.

JewelMin13

I intend to apply Nursing course in Dublin College University and I must apply through CAO ~,~.
That means, I submit all my involved document such as : profile , Leaving cert , IELTS Certificate , A-Level certificate , ... to CAO ?

That also means, I dont need to submit to DCU ? Just CAO ?

Can you explain more about Garda Vetting ? :-s . I dont know wht is it ?

rainbowtrout

In Ireland Garda = Police

It's a background check to make sure you don't have a criminal background, particularly as you would be working with vulnerable people including children.

spurious

JewelMin - the CAO is the Central Applications Office - it handles almost all university and third level applications for Ireland.

I was checking the DCU site and as Solus01 says, DCU's site seems to indicate you should apply directly to the college.

When you emailed them, did you explain you would be sitting A levels, or did they think you would be sitting the Irish Leaving Certificate?

Amantine

Hi,
Since its been a while I would love to hear what decision you made in the end and what your experience was?
Thanks

Amantine

spurious wrote: »

JewelMin - just to clarify, I don't know anything really about DTC, all I can say is that it is accredited by many UK examining boards and accreditiation is not easy to.

The Dublin Tutorial Centre is only accredited as an exam centre, meaning they are allowed to hold exams for the English boards. Their teaching is not accredited by anyone, not in Ireland or in the Uk. If you ring them and ask they will tell you so themselves