midwifery mature but bad leaving cert

micko4

Hi all,my girlfriend is interested in applying for midwifery as a mature student in the cao,in trinity or dundalk or anywhere close to Dublin.but she is unsure about some things,like is there two sets of points one for leaving cert students and one for mature students? She has done her leaving cert but with foundation mathematics,will this effect her? I always thought the idea of being a mature student was you didn't need a leaving cert,but were finding the information on te internet hard to follow and the deadline for the cao is in a few weeks time.I would love to hear from someone who did or is doing this as a mature student or is doing it that knows a mature student in the class or anyone that can help me out with it.thanks in advance any help asap would be great.

bhamsteve

If she doesn't have the required points at leaving cert then she will have to apply through the mature route. This will involve applying through CAO and then taking the entrance exam in April. The competition for midwifery is high, it usually requires a higher entrance exam mark than other forms of nursing.
Download the PDF from here, it should contain all the info you need.

Best of Luck
Steve

micko4

Yeah we realised she would have to go through the mature student route alright,but looking at the pdf I don't understand if it is saying you need leaving cert points even as a mature student but just not as much?? It's quite hard to follow,also would she need pass mathematics it doesn't clarify.cheers for the bit of help though Steve.do you know if theres anything she could do between now and then to improve her chances?

micko4

Also she is dead set on midwifery but as a second third and fourth choice on the cao would there be a point putting down nursing can you transfer from nursing to midwifery? If she wasn't accepted to the midwifery course would it be a back door in or is there any other ways? Obviously trying to get through it asap,thanks

MzMollz

Im currently in my first year of midwifery and I applied as a mature student. Your leaving cert does not come into it, you apply through the CAO before the 1st of February. After this you now need to apply to the public appointment service I think (we didnt have to do this last year), after applying they will send you a test date and time. You have to pass all four sections of this test and your score from this test now becomes your "points" but you will be going against all other mature students that have passed the test.

bhamsteve

micko4 wrote: »

Yeah we realised she would have to go through the mature student route alright,but looking at the pdf I don't understand if it is saying you need leaving cert points even as a mature student but just not as much?? It's quite hard to follow,also would she need pass mathematics it doesn't clarify.cheers for the bit of help though Steve.do you know if there's anything she could do between now and then to improve her chances?

Leaving cert results are not considered at all when applying through the mature route, the points you can see will be the entry exam results required to get onto each course in previous years. The only selection criteria is the entrance exam, there's no personal statement, interview or anything like that. There are 4 parts to the exam, one of which is numeracy.

Not sure if I'm supposed to do this on boards but there's a facebook group for people trying to get onto nursing/midwifery courses here. They seem to use the same exam questions each year and people in the facebook group might help you with some of the questions.
There are also preparation courses for the entrance exam, I've seen one run by killroys college and another preparation day run by careerservice if you want to give them a google.

I'd say that she may as well fill up the 10 choices on the CAO form with midwifery and nursing as I imagine it's possible to do a post grad course in midwifery after a nursing degree. The competition for midwifery places is tough, just make sure her preferred choices are at the top of the list.

micko4

Brilliant nice one Steve this has been an amazing help..so basically she needs to work hard to nail the test,
mzmolzz Did you find it hard to secure a place or you trying a few years? ..so basically all she can do is work as hard as possible for the test theres no other way,no interview or statement or any other education doesn't come into it?

MzMollz

Its a very tough process! I was lucky it was my first time trying but one of the other matures had done it 3 times before. I never put down such a stressful year but looking back now it has all been worth it. Theres a lot of competition and every year more are applying. She should go on the facebook page, thats where I got all my support and try to give a little back. The only other way in is through a fetac course but again fierce competition. She can also apply to do a prep day, I didnt as I hadnt even heard these existed till after the exam. It is a day course that guides you through the test and shows you how to answer the questions.

micko4

Thanks I just booked one for her there ha! So you didn't even have to go for an interview or anything it was all down to the test results? Maths is going to be the biggest obstacle but nothin a bit of elbow grease between now and then won't sort out..