Help needed HV mechanics Apprenticeship college options after completing phase 7

The Red Lad

Hi Guys ,

I'm 20 and am currently on phase 2 of a heavy vehicle mechanics trade with fas/solas , by the time I'm qualified I should be 23/24 (mature student) and am just wondering have I any collage options / further progression when I have completed my trade.

I would like to further my career options in getting a degree level 7 or 8 in mechanical engineering or something along them lines.

My leaving cert was average enough I passed everything except maths and also passed 3 higher subjects.

I know there is a lot of maths in engineering but I'd be willing to work very hard at it if I was to get in as a mature down the line.

Thanks in advance

Bpmull

I'm currently in third year of process and chemical engineering level 8 BE(Hons). For my leaving cert I got a b1 in honours maths and a c1 in honours applied maths and still failed first year maths in college that kind of says a lot tbh. Engineering is extremely maths based no matter what way you look at it you will be doing integration and differentiation everyday of the week. After I got over first year I was fine and that was the only exam I ever failed.

But look I'm certainly not trying to put you off it I love engineering in General I genuinely think it is one of the better degrees you can do in a college it gives you so many skills and is so broad. But just don't expect it to be any kind of a simple course you will basically count down the days until you qualify.

Plug

Go to Australia.

The Red Lad

Bump

Anyone?

SpannerMonkey

ya you can .

any mechnical or electrical apprenticeship gives you a lvl 6 qualification on the NFQ once you are qualified

i qualified as a Mech Fitter and have since continued and done 2 different lvl 7 Degrees by night

once you have a lvl 7 it opens up lvl 8 which im considering now and so on up the NFQ.
if you have any more questions just ask

This is the NFQ

The Red Lad

SpannerMonkey wrote: »

ya you can .

any mechnical or electrical apprenticeship gives you a lvl 6 qualification on the NFQ once you are qualified

i qualified as a Mech Fitter and have since continued and done 2 different lvl 7 Degrees by night

once you have a lvl 7 it opens up lvl 8 which im considering now and so on up the NFQ.
if you have any more questions just ask

This is the NFQ

Thanks for your reply its very hard get information on all of this so I really do appreciate it!

What age did you qualify as a mech fitter if you dont mind me asking?
All going well I should be qualified by 23/24 so that leaves plenty time for college!

I hope to do mechanical engineering in college afterwards I like what I'm doing atm and have a interest and its great getting a trade to always have but I don't want to work In a garage all my life and be broke up by 40 either!

In terms of getting into a level 7/8 course afterwards to do with mechanical engineering what would bode well for me ive actually decided to repeat leaving cert maths at home and work hard at it this time as I know there is alot of it in engineering so that should help me along with getting good grades in my apprenticeship is there any other fetac courses or anything else usefull I should be looking into so come when I'm finished my apprenticeship il have the best chance of getting a course with these all in my back pocket as I can't really rely on the 200 points I got in the leaving cert!!

If you have any places I could get information or so on this it would be great
thanks again I really do appreciate your time.

SpannerMonkey

PM sent

dont want to be telling my life story in public :P

FrontDoor

Maths is going to be an issue for you, but not an insurmountable one.

All ITs and unis push for mature students because they are generally excellent and get through the course. The HEA want 25% of 3rd level to be mature students.

They realise there are lots of candidates like yourself out there who are missing some element or other and run what they call foundation courses so that you can catch up.

In your case, you would probably need to go through a year of evening courses in Maths and then you would be accepted on to the degree.

What colleges are you interested in and I'll see what I can find.

The Red Lad

FrontDoor wrote: »

Maths is going to be an issue for you, but not an insurmountable one.

All ITs and unis push for mature students because they are generally excellent and get through the course. The HEA want 25% of 3rd level to be mature students.

They realise there are lots of candidates like yourself out there who are missing some element or other and run what they call foundation courses so that you can catch up.

In your case, you would probably need to go through a year of evening courses in Maths and then you would be accepted on to the degree.

What colleges are you interested in and I'll see what I can find.

Thanks for your reply!
would evening courses in maths be nessicary now the fact i am going to sit maths as an external candidate next year? Is it a one or the other sort of thing or would having both bode well for me ? Having both could only look better for me!

As for colleges ive no where set in stone im in the midlands so i suppose athlone,dublin,or Galway would be best suited but im open to other places too
thanks again

FrontDoor

The Red Lad wrote: »

Thanks for your reply!
would evening courses in maths be nessicary now the fact i am going to sit maths as an external candidate next year? Is it a one or the other sort of thing or would having both bode well for me ? Having both could only look better for me!

As for colleges ive no where set in stone im in the midlands so i suppose athlone,dublin,or Galway would be best suited but im open to other places too
thanks again

Have a look at this site http://www.nuigalway.ie/access/mature_student.html

From what I gather, if you pass the year, you automatically get accepted as a mature student in the course you are looking for.

Go with the maths as an external student too.