Springboard courses. Free college courses sponsored by the Irish Government

Dante7 · 26-06-2020 08:17AM

The site is still not up. They might want to take one of their own courses that covers load balancing.

FutureGuy · 26-06-2020 08:45AM

When is the deadline to apply?

AngryLips · 26-06-2020 08:55AM

Mystery666 wrote: »

I know there's an option to turn the Higher Diploma in Computer Science into an MSc in UCD by converting halfway through. I only know about this through word of mouth, is there any other Higher Diploma's that have a similar option as this is the only one I know about.

Most postgrad diplomas are just a masters with a component missing.

Dante7 wrote: »

The site is still not up. They might want to take one of their own courses that covers load balancing.

They've said on their Twitter that the site will be back up on Friday. Springboard have actually been quite good with their updates on Twitter.

un5byh7sqpd2x0 · 26-06-2020 08:57AM

Dante7 wrote: »

The site is still not up. They might want to take one of their own courses that covers load balancing.

Or cloud elasticity

declanflynn · 26-06-2020 08:58AM

I cant find the Financial Accounting and Payroll course on Athlone's website, can anyone help me

roadmaster · 26-06-2020 09:54AM

Have some courses not gone ahead?

JIdontknow · 26-06-2020 10:25AM

Seems to be open now but website is very hit and miss.

newuser99999 · 26-06-2020 10:38AM

declanflynn wrote: »

I cant find the Financial Accounting and Payroll course on Athlone's website, can anyone help me

Apply through the Springboard website it’s there.

Ficheall · 26-06-2020 10:59AM

I'm doing one of these at the moment - my main reasons for studying via Springboard were (a) the piece of paper, (b) the promised work placement.

I'll still get the piece of paper, which is good, but I could have learned much more in far less time from youtube etc. than by doing the course. You will find the courses have a couple of "filler" modules that often won't be of interest to you or of any practical benefit, and parts of them can be very slow in parts to bring everyone up to speed, whereas if you're studying on your own, you can focus on the things that do interest you and do so in more depth. (Obviously you can still do extra stuff that isn't mandated on your own, but time, time, time.) The courses are helpful if, like me, your self-discipline is lacking.

The course I'm doing doesn't provide the work placement for the students - you have to organise that yourself. If you can't get a work placement, you can write a "prior workplace experience" essay to attest that you play well with others etc. So it's a trivial module from a "credits" point of view, and the work placement seems to be just there as an advertising pull rather than being an important part of the course. Your course may, of course, differ - might be worth asking.

As a self-employed person, I paid ~700e over the two years. It feels approximately worth it.

jaffa20 · 26-06-2020 11:31AM

I don't think all the courses are there yet. At least not the DCU courses

AngryLips · 26-06-2020 12:38PM

Ficheall wrote: »

I'll still get the piece of paper, which is good, but I could have learned much more in far less time from youtube etc.

The same could be said of pretty much any third level course. The difference is that it provides the structure through which to do it in with externally set deadlines and objectives with proper accreditation at the end. If you consider yourself better able to learn on your own and that much of the course content is filler then maybe third level education is not for you?

Ficheall wrote: »

The course I'm doing doesn't provide the work placement for the students - you have to organise that yourself.

While various places will have different levels of support for work placement, the onus is still on the student to go off and secure something for themselves. Ain't nobody going to spoon feed you once you graduate.

Ficheall · 26-06-2020 01:03PM

AngryLips wrote: »

The same could be said of pretty much any third level course. The difference is that it provides the structure through which to do it in with externally set deadlines and objectives with proper accreditation at the end. If you consider yourself better able to learn on your own and that much of the course content is filler then maybe third level education is not for you?

Yes, the same could be said of pretty much any third-level course, and I think third-level education in its current form is vastly overrated, and that the education bubble must surely burst at some point. But the piece of paper, as I acknowledged in my post, is sadly needed for the jobs market.

AngryLips wrote: »

While various places will have different levels of support for work placement, the onus is still on the student to go off and secure something for themselves. Ain't nobody going to spoon feed you once you graduate.

My point was that one of the modules is a work placement (or "equivalent"), and it was unclear at the beginning that the course had no structures or proffered industry ties in place to support this. So you have a course with ~150 students all looking for work placements in the same area at the same time, with nothing set up to streamline this.

I'm not expecting to be hand-held (there is waaay too much of that in third-level education), I'm just saying that it might be worth clarifying with the course provider what the story is with work placements, to see if your expectations are appropriate.

If you need the piece of paper for work prospects or don't have the self-discipline to work on your own, by all means these courses can be useful, but if it is just for the sake of learning the material for its own sake and you don't care about having the piece of paper and don't want to have the course hanging over you for a year or two, then I wouldn't spend any money on these courses.

Blanco100 · 26-06-2020 01:53PM

Is there any application deadline?

Blanco100 · 26-06-2020 01:56PM

Lainey Mushy Stinger wrote: »

I can't speak for all of the courses but I've just finished a Postgraduate Diploma course which was essentially just the taught modules element of a masters.

There was then a choice to either graduate after that year with a PGDip, or complete a dissertation for the MSc award. In that case, it was only the Postgraduate Diploma part that was covered under Springboard. The dissertation element was to be undertaken as a second year.

Did you have to present the dissertation or simply hand it in?

Very interested in doing the Higher Diploma in Data Analytics at Maynooth, would ideally love to do the masters, would it cost much to complete the masters once you complete the higher diploma?

Away With The Fairies · 26-06-2020 01:57PM

Blanco100 wrote: »

Is there any application deadline?

I think it depends on the course.

26-06-2020 02:00PM

Blanco100 wrote: »

Very interested in doing the Higher Diploma in Data Analytics at Maynooth, would ideally love to do the masters, would it cost much to complete the masters once you complete the higher diploma?

€6,750 I believe.

Away With The Fairies · 26-06-2020 02:01PM

Has anyone applied while receiving the Covid PUP? I don't see it as an option for a social welfare payment.

Blanco100 · 26-06-2020 02:04PM

jaffa20 wrote: »

I don't think all the courses are there yet. At least not the DCU courses

Same with Institute of banking courses

r439z5ifwt8soq · 26-06-2020 02:06PM

Blanco100 wrote: »

Did you have to present the dissertation or simply hand it in?

Very interested in doing the Higher Diploma in Data Analytics at Maynooth, would ideally love to do the masters, would it cost much to complete the masters once you complete the higher diploma?

I think it would depend on the course and the place you do it. I'd say inquire to Maynooth and ask for details on it. In my case, the springboard course (PGDip) was worth 60 credits, and the dissertation worth 30, giving the total 90 credits for the MSc award. The price for the dissertation element was reduced to reflect that.

As for handing it in - it depends on the course aswell. In the one I've done, due to the course being online-led, it can all be done virtually. As far as I know, there is an option to do the viva in person.

CBear1993 · 26-06-2020 08:56PM

Could someone explain :

If I've done a level 8 bachelor of science honours degree in college, is it counter-intuitive to be doing anything below this really?

I'm looking at post-grad course only, but if a level 8 course can be done through springboard in one year it will get you into that industry or sector just as well?

I'm thinking really about the CV/Upon completion what's going to get you straight into a job. As mentioned previously I want out of construction.

There's a few level 7s/level 6s on there certificates, are they enough? I don't have a clue. If they are and a company will take you on, I'd obviously do those rather than put myself through the increased workload/difficulty of a level 9 PgDip etc...

Looking into NIBRT vs Innopharma moving into that sector... need to more research though as I don't know if If the courses get you into the actual pharma firms as a shift worker on the floor/labs or if you're still in an office/technical..

I've a friend in my position in new york who left QS and is now in big pharma but is their global facilities/construction logistics man.

FFVII · 26-06-2020 09:31PM

I know someone that did one of these level 6, finished it there but it doesn't have enough credits to do a level 7, he has to find something else to bring it up.

declanflynn · 27-06-2020 11:28AM

newuser99999 wrote: »

Apply through the Springboard website it’s there.

Thanks

declanflynn · 27-06-2020 11:32AM

My wife is cari g for my parents and is getting carer's benifit/allowance, would she qualify for a course

declanflynn · 27-06-2020 11:32AM

My wife is cari g for my parents and is getting carer's benifit/allowance, would she qualify for a course

Esse85 · 27-06-2020 11:51AM

declanflynn wrote: »

My wife is cari g for my parents and is getting carer's benifit/allowance, would she qualify for a course

Depends on the course.

Springboard is available to both employed and unemployed.

Dante7 · 27-06-2020 12:50PM

declanflynn wrote: »

My wife is cari g for my parents and is getting carer's benifit/allowance, would she qualify for a course

Yes. Carer's allowance is one of the qualifying payments.

MikeOis · 27-06-2020 01:57PM

If you have i.e. a level 7 and 15 years related work experience, can you qualify for a level 9 course? Does work experience allow to skip a level? thks

newuser99999 · 27-06-2020 03:43PM

MikeOis wrote: »

If you have i.e. a level 7 and 15 years related work experience, can you qualify for a level 9 course? Does work experience allow to skip a level? thks

No you’d need to do a level 8 unfortunately.

phonypony · 27-06-2020 04:48PM

MikeOis wrote: »

If you have i.e. a level 7 and 15 years related work experience, can you qualify for a level 9 course? Does work experience allow to skip a level? thks

It's absolutely possible, it's dependent on the policy for recognition of prior learning of the college, sometimes this is also course specific. I know plenty of people who have done an MSc with a level 7 BSc + some experience. I also know of people who have not done a primary degree but with experience and professional qualifications have entered level 9 diploma courses and onwards to MSc.

Officer Giggles · 27-06-2020 05:12PM

MikeOis wrote: »

If you have i.e. a level 7 and 15 years related work experience, can you qualify for a level 9 course? Does work experience allow to skip a level? thks

It's definitely possible. It's at the discretion of the college with regard to each individual course.

Springboard courses. Free college courses sponsored by the Irish Government

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