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Springboard courses. Free college courses sponsored by the Irish Government

bromley52

https://springboardcourses.ie/

Open for applications on 25th of June. Telephone lines open 22nd of June.

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Officer Giggles

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Hi everyone... just gotten my email to say I have been accepted into the Springboard that I applied for

I am trying not to get my hopes up just yet because it honestly sounds too good to be true...

I have a part time job (in retail) that I've had for over a year. Worked through COVID etc. It says 'dept. of education will pay 90% of fees for those in employment' and so I will be liable for 10% - is this true?? The course has nothing to do with my retail job. Does it only matter that I am employed? Or does it have to be a job within the field of the course??

I presume if they have accepted me they have checked all of this out, since I gave my PPS number and details of the job. But I don't want to believe it yet...

Would you mind telling us what college you applied to just to get an idea of which ones are making progress through the applications

[Deleted User]

This is it wrote: »

It doesn't need to relate to your current field, and yes, you pay just 10% best of luck!

Thanks... what a great initiative

I'm amazed. Just happened to hear about it by chance on the radio.

[Deleted User]

Officer Giggles wrote: »

Would you mind telling us what college you applied to just to get an idea of which ones are making progress through the applications

Apologies for the double post.

It's a post-graduate diploma in NUI Galway, in the business school.

I applied on the 28th and got an acceptance email today.

Officer Giggles

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Apologies for the double post.

It's a post-graduate diploma in NUI Galway, in the business school.

I applied on the 28th and got an acceptance email today.

Thanks and best of luck with your course

FFVII

Pity one can't get in as mature student on most of these.

I didn't meet the requirements on any of the ones I was after.

I stay in the my **** job.

Gadge

FFVII wrote: »

Pity one can't get in as mature student on most of these.

I didn't meet the requirements on any of the ones I was after.

I stay in the my **** job.

Is it because you don't have a L7/L8 in something else?

delishdoughnut

Deleted User wrote: »

Apologies for the double post.

It's a post-graduate diploma in NUI Galway, in the business school.

I applied on the 28th and got an acceptance email today.

Congrats. I applied to NUIG on the 12th and still haven't heard from them

cas2kx

delishdoughnut wrote: »

Congrats. I applied to NUIG on the 12th and still haven't heard from them

I asked them when they might get back to me as I applied on the 30th of June and they said they hope to be back to people next week. I applied for the Diploma in Software Engineering.

BonnieSituation

FFVII wrote: »

Pity one can't get in as mature student on most of these.

I didn't meet the requirements on any of the ones I was after.

I stay in the my **** job.

There's no age issue for any of these courses.

There are academic requirements (L7/L8) though and failing that you need to show previous experience, ie. an RPEL, in lieu of your lack of academic qualifications.

Irish_peppa

What is the difference between a "Springboard" Course and a "Fetch" Course?
Are they aimed at different
Employment sectors?
Ages?
Past education History?
The only difference i see are the stock photos on the Fetch home page are of older more mature looking people and the site itself is very business like, whereas springboard is all colorful fun colors and bright so im guessing fetch is for older people plus 30 that never went to college or career change and springboard for people under 30 ?

https://springboardcourses.ie/
https://www.fetchcourses.ie/

bren2001

Irish_peppa wrote: »

What is the difference between a "Springboard" Course and a "Fetch" Course?
Are they aimed at different
Employment sectors?
Ages?
Past education History?
The only difference i see are the stock photos on the Fetch home page are of older more mature looking people and the site itself is very business like, whereas springboard is all colorful fun colors and bright so im guessing fetch is for older people plus 30 that never went to college or career change and springboard for people under 30 ?

https://springboardcourses.ie/
https://www.fetchcourses.ie/

Springboard are courses run by Universities/ITs to a much higher level then fetch. The purpose is to upskill people in areas where there are employment opportunities in the economy. It is not for under 30's, it is for people of all ages. Based on my own experience, the majority would be 35-45. This will be extended by HCI Pillar 1 where full 1 year courses will be available enabling people to meet entry requirements where they did not have them before for 3rd level courses e.g. someone lacking maths for an Engineering Masters.

Springboard and HCI Pillar 1 are very much about career change.

Fetch is not run by Universities. They would not deliver material to as high a standard as Universities. Where Universities are level 7-9, I suspect Fetch is 3-5. They have apprenticeships, traineeships and more basic and fundamental courses compared to Springboard.

I would suspect the students to be older in Fetch.

Notions13

Hey guys! Sorry this might be a long explanation!

I applied for a Springboard course in NUIG on the 22nd of July. Yesterday, 31st July, I got an email from Springboard offering me a place on the course which I was delighted about; went onto my Springboard account and the status of the application had changed to Successful with an Acceptance Deadline of 14th August. Hours later I went back onto my account to double-check the date for the acceptance deadline and my status has now changed from Successful to Draft? Does anyone have an idea of what I should do at this point? Going into the bank holiday weekend I'm not sure if there's anything to do other than wait to see if there's any clarification next week. Part of me is thinking the email sent offering me a place was a mistake which would be so disappointing.
Thanks everyone

BonnieSituation

Irish_peppa wrote: »

What is the difference between a "Springboard" Course and a "Fetch" Course?
Are they aimed at different
Employment sectors?
Ages?
Past education History?
The only difference i see are the stock photos on the Fetch home page are of older more mature looking people and the site itself is very business like, whereas springboard is all colorful fun colors and bright so im guessing fetch is for older people plus 30 that never went to college or career change and springboard for people under 30 ?

https://springboardcourses.ie/
https://www.fetchcourses.ie/

Fetch courses just looks like a centralised hub for Solas (FÁS), FET colleges and ETBs. Essentially doing what Nightcourses does.

"Fetchcourses.ie was developed by SOLAS, the Further Education & Training Authority, in partnership with Education and Training Boards Ireland (ETBI) and other Further Education and Training providers"

Springboard on the other hand is a scheme provided by various educational institutions both public and private to increase learning and upskilling in areas deemed to be of direct value to the economy and Irish jobs market.

Age has nothing to do with either of them as a selection criterion. Well, ignoring that you have to be over 16 to enter FET, which I assume we all are if looking at this. They're both there to help people upskill or even just re-enter education but at potentially different levels/points of entry.

Irish_peppa

BonnieSituation wrote: »

Fetch courses just looks like a centralised hub for Solas (FÁS), FET colleges and ETBs. Essentially doing what Nightcourses does.

"Fetchcourses.ie was developed by SOLAS, the Further Education & Training Authority, in partnership with Education and Training Boards Ireland (ETBI) and other Further Education and Training providers"

Springboard on the other hand is a scheme provided by various educational institutions both public and private to increase learning and upskilling in areas deemed to be of direct value to the economy and Irish jobs market.

Age has nothing to do with either of them as a selection criterion. Well, ignoring that you have to be over 16 to enter FET, which I assume we all are if looking at this. They're both there to help people upskill or even just re-enter education but at potentially different levels/points of entry.

Thanks Bren and Bonnie that is very interesting thank you for clearing that up. The amount of different platforms for someone like me can be confusing. I was wondering why the likes of social studies has been totally ignored by springboard there is Zero on their site for any sort of social studies at all. I guess there is no real intrinsic value in paying for social studies courses. thanks again

Kiith

Was told i would get an offer for my course in Athlone IT on last week, but no sign of it so far.

tritium

Has anyone gotten offers from NCI yet? Finding them maddeningly slow even after trying to contact them directly.

cefh17

Got an offer this evening from NUIG, the course deadline was 31st July fyi

Mickeroo

cefh17 wrote: »

Got an offer this evening from NUIG, the course deadline was 31st July fyi

Which course was that if you don't mind? Haven't heard back from them yet, applied for the software engineering one.

BonnieSituation

tritium wrote: »

Has anyone gotten offers from NCI yet? Finding them maddeningly slow even after trying to contact them directly.

No. They are the worst college I have ever dealt with ever, from an administrative POV. And I've been to DIT (twice) and BCFE in my time.

Constantly asking for the same documentation over and over again. It's been a nightmare.

I have a place confirmed in CCT and Maynooth for Hdip in Data Analytics. But was holding out for NCI given their blended option suited me better, but I dread to think what they're like from a "learning" pov given they can't open document batches properly.

My mate did the same course the last 2 years PT and had awful hassle with inept course management. I think I'm gonna pass and accept one of the other 2 tbh. Life's too short and college is hard enough with the added stress of that.

cefh17

Mickeroo wrote: »

Which course was that if you don't mind? Haven't heard back from them yet, applied for the software engineering one.

Lean and Quality Systems specialist diploma

Jet Black

bennyx_o wrote: »

I got accepted to the Certificate in Computer Programming in DCU on Friday evening

Applied for this too as my first choice and didn't hear anything until yesterday looking for more info. Hopefully that's a good sign, thought since they offered it to others two weeks ago I didn't get it.

lasalle

Anybody hear word back from Innopharma on offers of their courses?
Havn’t heard yet and closing dates of another course (not my first choice) that i have been sucessful is this week

mp3ireland2

I am living in Scotland and being made redundany from September 25th.
I want to start a course on my return, at the moment I can't apply as unemplyoed.

I am trying to find the full Critera, to apply as employed.

From what I can find you need to be resident for 3 of 5 years in EU/UK etc.
Living in Ireland on the date the course starts.

I am looking for the full terms relevant for me as I am getting told I'm not eligble, anybody got the full list so I can check and argue my case?

BonnieSituation

Honestly, apply to whatever course you think and worry about the technicalities later on. The eligibility criteria can be sticky but there's ways and means about it and the college's are very helpful.

The quicker the better as places are filling up.

Best of luck with it.

delishdoughnut

Mickeroo wrote: »

Which course was that if you don't mind? Haven't heard back from them yet, applied for the software engineering one.

I havent heard anything either. My course closed on the 25th July. I sent an email today but no response. Id imagine a lot on holidays and working from home.

mp3ireland2

BonnieSituation wrote: »

Honestly, apply to whatever course you think and worry about the technicalities later on. The eligibility criteria can be sticky but there's ways and means about it and the college's are very helpful.

The quicker the better as places are filling up.

Best of luck with it.

THanks yeah had applied to a couple of courses and waiting to hear back, hopefully the collages are helpful, as a person being made redundant next month I would be the intended target student!
Waiting till I go home and get a job/sign on would leave me not able to apply till the January batch. Fingers crossed!

Esse85

mp3ireland2 wrote: »

THanks yeah had applied to a couple of courses and waiting to hear back, hopefully the collages are helpful, as a person being made redundant next month I would be the intended target student!
Waiting till I go home and get a job/sign on would leave me not able to apply till the January batch. Fingers crossed!

What courses have you applied to?

I'd suspect allowances could be made if there was places on the course available. I'd contact the college running the course and see could they put in a good word.

Seen as your living and working in the UK the last 8 years, I can understand why you might be told no chance too.

caiconafita

A quick heads up: Check your junk mail. I received an email from springboard (AIT) yesterday, requesting documents, and went to my junk mail.

FFVII

caiconafita wrote: »

A quick heads up: Check your junk mail. I received an email from springboard (AIT) yesterday, requesting documents, and went to my junk mail.

Hmm, I was turned down 2 days ago for not sending documents, they never asked but maybe that's where it went. Will check.

FFVII

FFVII wrote: »

Hmm, I was turned down 2 days ago for not sending documents, they never asked but maybe that's where it went. Will check.

Yup, it was in there.

Ah well.

I'm not surprised.