Springboard courses. Free college courses sponsored by the Irish Government

I was in AIT last year and in January(start of Semester 2) they stated we needed to go back to springboard when prompted and "confirm" we were still working/unemployed/in country etc and highlight if anything had changed. I'm now in UL so I don't know their own process yet, might not be the same at all.

I think if you prove your residency at at the start (when applying) that's the only time they ask.

I had to do this at least twice at the NCI if I remember correctly.

Hi,

Anyone doing a Springboard and not enjoying it? I did a level 8 last year and loved it. Doing a level 9 in the same subject different Uni. and I just can't get into it.

Not enjoying it and thinking of quitting, I was so determined last year and got a first in my degree. I don't know what to do. I've paid all my fees too.

Any advice.

Hi everyone. Currently doing a level 9 post grad diploma with innopharma/Griffith college, medical device technology and business through springboard.

I mainly undertook this course to get into medical device sector (currently in semiconductor industry). However I recently got offered the role I wanted before doing this course. I am leaving my current role in semiconductor industry and will join a medical device company as a senior materials engineer.

I am not sure if I will be able to hack the amount of work the course would bring along with the new role. I am finding it hard to do the course at the moment anyway, didn't anticipate the amount of work. My current role was 10 min walk away one way but my new medical device role is 40 mins by bus one way so even less time to commit to the course.

I was thinking of withdrawing from the course but there are two things that put me off.

1. I will not be able to do a springboard course again.

2. I brought up that I was doing the course during my interview so not sure if this pushed them for hiring me and would look badly to them if I withdraw from it.

Any advice appreciated!

How long is the course? Could you hack it? Maybe do half? Like the previous poster said, people do courses to get the job, you've got it so if working and studying gets too much you've to prioritize the most important one.

If it's just 9 months then try to finish half, when you're more comfortable pay to do the other half

ok, couple of things could you use your 40 minute commute to do some work for the course. You also mention if you miss your bus you will miss the start of the class...its online can you not log on via your phone? Are the classes recorded?

you mention about withdrawing and hopefully your new employer won't mind. Did you say in the interview that you were doing the course? I know a lot of employers do hold those qualifications in high regard.

I think you need to decide whether you want to do it or not. I've done a postgrad so appreciate the volume of work and reading that is needed to be done. A lot of my work was done on a bus.

Did you recently reconfirm your springboard application?

I was in this position last year, moved from oil and gas to pharmaceutical sucessfully got a contracting role just before I started the L9 biopharmaceutical processing course. It was very demanding due to the work project I am on, at times I was working till lunch on a Saturday and then spending the afternoon doing assignments, my only consolation was it was during lockdown! If you were able you could maybe do enough to get by on the course, start it and see what you think. The work expericne could enable you to pass the course without even doing the lectures. I told myself I would do enough "Just to pass" but found it too hard to do something half heartedly and gave a lot of commitment and got 80% overall.

Have you got kids? A significant other (They best be patient!) I found the hardest part doing literaray reviews and essays etc as hadn't done any acadmeic reading in years, it got easier once I got used to it, but with your Phd you'll probably find that not as daunting.

Start it for a couple of weeks, see what you make of it and then decide, you've nothing to loose as you've already registered etc.

Yeah try not to let assignments build up too much and get them out of the way when possible so if other things get in the way you've got a bit of leeway.

Is that all the course or will more be added ? Was looking to do a course (classroom based) in Limerick but only like 3 showing up :(

sounds to me that you filter the courses based on Delivery methods: classroom ; and keyword search: Limerick

You need to dig deeper : most full time courses are classroom based and some courses are having a 'blended' approach : you're welcome to attend in classroom, join the live class through Zoom/Teams or switch to full remote when restrictions are coming back.

Look what's the offering from 'providers' in your area ( colleges , Uni's) - if you see something interesting, might contact them and ask what's the attendance policy

Hey, thanks for the advice.

Studying at home just wouldn't work for me :( so thats why I wanted a course classroom based. I did look at blended as if it was mostly classroom based it might be doable, but it seems like there is very little in Limerick.

I filtered by selecting the two university's/ collage in Limerick and then classroom based / blended.

I get that haveing online course is great for most as it allows people to do course further away, save money on travel, better for environment ect, just dose not work for me.

Some colleges won't get back to you until after the closing date, others will go through applications as they're received. Can also reach out to them and they might give you a time frame

IT Carlow anyone got any reviews? Looking at the MSc they are running.