I'm a little confused. (Education)

ShaneB12

So basically I've left school after my junior certificate and since then I've basically done nothing I'm turning 19 in a month and really the only thing I've accomplished is getting my drivers license etc so I'm wondering if I should go back to education and get my leaving cert and maybe continue on to university or what should I do, I'm a little concerned on how to do soo too I don't really want to go back to the school for another 2 years that I left.

Ursus Horribilis

If you can at all, yes you should get yourself back to school and do your leaving cert. Out of curiosity, why did you leave in the first place?

If you don't want to return to your old school, are there other ones in your area you could attend instead? That'd be the most straightforward solution I'd have thought. There are also other options out there http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/education/primary_and_post_primary_education/educational_supports/early_school_leavers_programmes.html

JackTaylorFan

I'm sure, if you really wanted to, you could do your leaving cert' by enrolling on a one year course. There are many colleges that cater to that. Not sure of fees though.

Turtle_

Are you in a city? If you are you'll have no trouble finding somewhere else to go sit the leaving cert.

In an ideal world, what would you actually like to do? That's the starting point. What you do next is determined by what you ultimately want to do.

University can be a fantastic idea if it suits you. If it gets you nearer where you want to go, then it's great. Otherwise you might be better off looking at a trade.

I do think you should do your leaving cert though. If you can figure out what you want after that, you can be very smart about what you do in your leaving cert. for instance, if you want to go study engineering via a level 7, then for your language subjects do enough to meet the entry requirements, but focus heavily on the important stuff like maths and science subjects.

It'd help to know why you left in the first place. I'm sure it wasn't for no reason at all, so knowing why you didn't sit it in the first place, as well as where you'd generally like to be in 10-15 years time, would help to figure out a sensible and workable plan.

Big Bag of Chips

Have a look here. Some information that might help.


http://www.qualifax.ie/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=47&Itemid=59

Permabear

This post has been deleted.

Ursus Horribilis

Turtle_ wrote: »

It'd help to know why you left in the first place. I'm sure it wasn't for no reason at all, so knowing why you didn't sit it in the first place, as well as where you'd generally like to be in 10-15 years time, would help to figure out a sensible and workable plan.

That thought occurred to me too. It seems bizarre that someone who left school early is suddenly turning around and talking about going to university. It's not today or yesterday that I was in school but even then, leaving school before leaving cert wasn't the done thing. If you left because were weren't academic and were struggling, then perhaps university isn't the route to take.

On the other hand, if you just quit because you were fed up of school or were having personal problems there, then looking towards university makes more sense. You've learned the hard way that not having a leaving cert or any sort of qualification is a limiting thing.

Eric Cartman

I don't know if I'd even bother with the LC, what do you want to do after it ?

If you wanted to do a trade or somesuch, try get an apprenticeship , failing that i'd probably just get a job delivering takeaway or other such job (your driving licence opens a lot of doors) and piss away time till you're 23 and can go to college as a mature student.

Airyfairy12

It depends on what you want to do. If you decide to go to college what would you like to study? You might not need a leaving cert depending on the area you want to get into.
Theres alternatives like fetac courses or adult education to complete your leaving cert so you wont need to go back to school to repeat. Allot of people dont start college until age 21/22 while theyre figuring stuff out so now's a good time to get your leaving cert or fetac qualifications under your belt so you can move on to the next step.

Go to a local Institute of further education and ask to speak to someone their about your options like adult leaving cert courses or you can be admitted to some level 5 courses with just a Junior certificate and from there you can advance to third level but it depends on the third level course you want to pursue also. Speak to a local guidance counsellor too, you'll either find one through adult education centres or unemployment services in your area.

GingerLily

I have a friend who didn't pass the leaving and had a lot of trouble getting jobs in later in life as lots of companies insist on it. In the end they went back and sat it again so they could get passed the HR requirements that a lot of companies have.

ShaneB12

No I'm not in a city. I left school over anxiety and pressure and at the time I thought it was cool down the line well, I found out that I was becoming lonely basically lost communications with a lot of friends over leaving and since then Little to no friends but, Yea anxiety is the main reason why I left but I still learned outside of school I thought myself how to build computers (pretty simple but it's something). I left school around 15-16 I didn't even do 5th year. I now miss school, mainly for the people there but I feel like it wont be the same but I've had 2 interviews so far and got denied them and I presume it was for having no leaving cert.

woodchuck

Yes, I would advise doing your leaving cert. There is already some good advice on here for how to go about doing so. It's the bear minimum that a lot of jobs expect you to have, so you'd really be limiting yourself in the long term by not having it.

Personally I'd take it one step at a time though. Start studying for the leaving cert and then decide if you want to continue to college/university.

In relation to picking subjects, if you have an idea of what kind of course you might like to do after the leaving cert, then great, pick the relevant subjects for that. But if not, I wouldn't stress too much about what subjects you pick now. Try to stick to what you're good at as that would naturally be what you might to decide to pursue in college (if you decide to go). But generally speaking I would advise you keep one language as that is a general requirement for most colleges. For the same reason I would not advise doing foundation level maths (or foundation level anything to be perfectly honest). That will help keep your options open.

Turtle_

ShaneB12 wrote: »

No I'm not in a city. I left school over anxiety and pressure and at the time I thought it was cool down the line well, I found out that I was becoming lonely basically lost communications with a lot of friends over leaving and since then Little to no friends but, Yea anxiety is the main reason why I left but I still learned outside of school I thought myself how to build computers (pretty simple but it's something). I left school around 15-16 I didn't even do 5th year. I now miss school, mainly for the people there but I feel like it wont be the same but I've had 2 interviews so far and got denied them and I presume it was for having no leaving cert.

Ok, that's tough. I've been there (albeit whilst in college). Anxiety can make school and college very difficult.

Seeing as it sounds like you were academically fine, going back sounds like a good idea. Seeing as you can drive, you aren't hugely limited about where you go either. Youthreach might be an ideal option for you. It's all people who've left school early without doing the leaving cert. that might make it easier to go back than going to a secondary school?

pilly

I agree with others OP, it really depends on what you want to do in the future.

When your older and you've been through a few jobs your Leaving Cert won't be very important.

However if you want to study for a degree in any subject you'll need the basics that a Leaving Certificate will bring you.

Consider it carefully though, if you found it very stressful then will you find college worse.

Whatever you decide to you best of luck. You're still very young and so have plenty of time. Don't be hard on yourself. You have your driving licence for one thing, I know people of 30 who don't have that.

woodchuck

pilly wrote: »

I agree with others OP, it really depends on what you want to do in the future.

When your older and you've been through a few jobs your Leaving Cert won't be very important.

However if you want to study for a degree in any subject you'll need the basics that a Leaving Certificate will bring you.

Consider it carefully though, if you found it very stressful then will you find college worse.

Whatever you decide to you best of luck. You're still very young and so have plenty of time. Don't be hard on yourself. You have your driving licence for one thing, I know people of 30 who don't have that.

I agree that the older you get, the less important it is. But that's usually because you've used it to get into other courses and/or jobs where the higher qualifications and experience then trumps the leaving cert. It would be very difficult to get to that point without having the leaving cert to begin with.

What kind of interviews did you go to OP and did you ask for any feedback? A lot of the time you won't even be interviewed unless you meet basic requirements, so it could be that while the leaving cert wasn't a deal breaker for those roles, you scored lower than other candidates because you didn't have it. I'd definitely ask for feedback though.

pilly

woodchuck wrote: »

I agree that the older you get, the less important it is. But that's usually because you've used it to get into other courses and/or jobs where the higher qualifications and experience then trumps the leaving cert. It would be very difficult to get to that point without having the leaving cert to begin with.

What kind of interviews did you go to OP and did you ask for any feedback? A lot of the time you won't even be interviewed unless you meet basic requirements, so it could be that while the leaving cert wasn't a deal breaker for those roles, you scored lower than other candidates because you didn't have it. I'd definitely ask for feedback though.

I'm a qualified chartered accountant and I don't have a Leaving Cert.

Admittedly I did it as a mature student and at night which is the hard way to do it but it can be done.

Also, I'll confess, when I was younger I lied about having my Leaving Cert. May not be the most ethical thing to do but if it gets you in the door somewhere, what harm?

Airyfairy12

Ive never been asked for my leaving cert and im fairly sure that it's wiped from your record after 5 years or so. You can attend college as a mature student regardless without a leaving cert, you'll need to take an exam and do an interview to ensure youre capable to complete the course, depending on what the course is, some will require a leaving cert or equivalent qualification but in some instances its not required. A leaving cert is handy, its gets you in the door quicker but its in no way the end all.

woodchuck

pilly wrote: »

I'm a qualified chartered accountant and I don't have a Leaving Cert.

Admittedly I did it as a mature student and at night which is the hard way to do it but it can be done.

Also, I'll confess, when I was younger I lied about having my Leaving Cert. May not be the most ethical thing to do but if it gets you in the door somewhere, what harm?

So obviously you did think a leaving cert was necessary in the early stages of your career.

Are you suggesting the OP lies about having done it too though? Honest, I don't even know where to start with that...

OP if you have a career in mind that doesn't require the leaving cert, then follow that path instead. However for what it's worth, I've never met anyone who regretted doing the leaving cert.

pilly

woodchuck wrote: »

So obviously you did think a leaving cert was necessary in the early stages of your career.

Are you suggesting the OP lies about having done it too though? Honest, I don't even know where to start with that...

OP if you have a career in mind that doesn't require the leaving cert, then follow that path instead. However for what it's worth, I've never met anyone who regretted doing the leaving cert.

My first job was in a cinema, so no it didn't require the Leaving Cert but I stuck it down on my application anyway. Not one bit ashamed of that fact either. How was my LC relevant to the cinema? It wasn't, simply got me in the door.

I'm not advocating anyone not doing the Leaving Cert, just saying that it's not the be all and end all either. Some people simply can't cope with the pressure of doing it.

GingerLily

OP, your not too old to go back, do you really want this hanging over you?
A leaving cert will open up a opportunities and maybe college courses in the future, it will give the time to think about what subjects you may want to look into doing in college or part time courses etc.
Or you may decide you don't want to carry on studying, but you'll have no more "what-ifs"!!

LegacyUser

Having the LC may not be the be-all and end-all but what it does do is make life that little bit easier for you in the long run.It gives you options.And these days, with a good 40 something years of work ahead of us, you want options, believe me.You want to be able to switch careers, look around at other things you could do, do things on the side.Yeah, they mightn't require you to USE your LC, but it opens doors for you that would most likely remain closed if you don't have it.

You need to take a long term view here OP. Nobody enjoys going back to education(I've done it, it's not that much fun), but you just get the head down and get it over with.It's short term pain for long long term gain here.And remember, you are now 4 years older, which hopefully means you are better equipped to deal with it