Mature Student - Where to find courses available

Bighig250

Hi All

I'm a 45 year old guy, been out of work for a year and a half and I really want to get back into full time education in Dublin

The problem I'm finding is I don't know where to find suitable courses and whats available, basically I don't know where to look. Is there anything out there at the moment? or is it too late in the year to enroll anywhere.

I'm interested in a computer/retail/business type of course and having checked those available on Springboard I would like to see what else is out there. Is it just a case of checking through each individual college or is there some sort of listing I could check regarding places enrolling.

I would appreciate some help on this matter.

intheclouds

There doesnt seem to be any kind of useful central repository of this type of thing.

It may not be too late to get into something, depending on the nature of the course (for example there is a Cert I am interested in starting in Maynooth in January).

So I would say the best thing is to browse through individual college websites.

Check out distance learning options also as they are often more flexible in terms of intake dates. Open University has become too expensive to be useful for Irish people (not subsidised anymore) but plenty of other UK universities have offerings at reasonable prices - University of London being one I have used successfully in the past - just be sure that you are doing something accredited and not a piece of paper worth nothing.

spurious

Your local ETB's Adult Education Office is the place to contact. They will know about the courses available and also schemes such as VTOS which may be relevant. Or drop in to your local ETB school/college.

City of Dublin ETB
http://cityofdublin.etb.ie/schools-and-centres/adult-education-centres-2/

County Dublin ETB
http://www.ddletb.ie/adult-education.aspx

Bighig250

Many thanks Guys

A few interesting pointers for me to be getting on with. Will give them a go first thing in the morning.

Much appreciated

DK man

www.qualifax.ie is the best site. There is a course search facility on the site and you can refine it down to suit your needs

All etbs (old Vec ) have adult guidance counsellors - this is a free service and manned by experienced qualified career guidance professionals. If you ring your local etb or look up their web page you will get direct line numbers. I see someone above has put the links up!

There was a list of new trades added to the current list - these are fast track programmes which include / business / and it. These would be well worth a look as employers are on board and work placement is built into the training.

Plc colleges which offer 1 year level 5 courses - these are very good for those who have been out of education for a long time. However they are mainly for foundation studies and you would generally need to move on after or in some cases do a level 6 (another year). There are many it and business courses across the Plc sector. Many leaving certs use these if they don't have the points for an it or uni.

If you act quickly you may be offered a place in this current year if you have some background in the subject area. Most of the doors will be closed but no doubt there are course out there where people have dropped out of and if you made a strong enough case they may let you in as a very late applicant...

Best of luck

Eire Go Brach

There are loads of opertunities to study If your unemployed. I'm doing an MCSA at the moment with an ETB.
Have a look on the Solas website for courses. Loads will be starting in January.
Also try
http://www.skillnets.ie
http://www.momentumskills.ie/learner.aspx
http://fit.ie
There is also http://www.ecollege.ie/moodle/

Have a look at the certification forum here to.