PLCs for Access to University

mcmxci · 14-06-2012 09:09PM #1

I'm 20 years old and repeating my leaving cert this year. I'm interested in language and humanities and it's clear that the career path I want to follow requires a university education.

I got a good Junior Cert but I really hated school. I left early in fifth year and studied on my own. Last year I got a higher level C3, 2 higher passes and 3 fails without proper tuition.

I've applied for the DARE scheme as I've been diagnosed with a mild disorder on the autism spectrum and I take anti-depressants. I hope to gain access to UCD Arts and I'm also interested in some courses at IADT.

I realise that it's the wrong time to do a post mortem but I'm disillusioned with the way some of my exams have gone so far.

It's been difficult to motivate myself during this year. I've attended extra classes and readings and found them interesting. I have enjoyed the year and I find that it has really opened my mind but I don't know whether my results will reflect this.

I think I'd perform better under a system of continuous assessment, with the immediacy of assignments with deadlines rather than a daunting exam at the end of the year.

For anyone who has done a PLC for access to university, is it based entirely on exam results at the end or is there continuous assessment/grade percentage average?

looksee · 15-06-2012 07:14PM

PLC courses vary, some with all exams, some with continuous assessment and exams and some with just continuous assessment, or portfolios, or a mixture.

I can sympathise with your attitude to exams, I have always had the same issue, however I did manage to find a third level course (art and design) that had almost no exams, and did very well with it. It should be possible to find a non-exam PLC course, you will just have to look at all the PLC colleges and see how they are assessed.

ordinary_girl · 15-06-2012 11:09PM

It really depends on what course you're doing, though in course descriptions they will usually outline how you'll be assessed. I'd recommend doing a PLC to get into university. I did badly in my Leaving Cert and knew it mainly boiled down to the fact that I always perform very badly in exams, regardless of whether I know the course content inside out.

I gained access to uni through a PLC course, and in fairness I did have one exam that I managed to do well in - it's a lot better than the Leaving Cert and you can also focus on a topic you're interested in, so if your DARE application doesn't work out it's worth giving a PLC a shot.

mcmxci · 17-06-2012 08:07PM

That's interesting. Thanks looksee and ordinary_girl.

PLCs for Access to University

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