Springboard+ courses for 2019/20 released, open to people in current employment

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miamee wrote: »

I've signed up to one via Springboard starting in September, looking forward to it now. As promised, just had to pay 10% of the fees. (At least so far)
I will report back here when I have something to report! I haven't been in formal education in a very long time so I'm looking forward to it - and wondering how I will fit it in with a full-time job. I'm sure I will manage

How did you get on? I'm thinking of doing one this year but a bit worried with managing a full-time job with two kids. How time consuming is the course?

OneLungDavy wrote: »

How did you get on? I'm thinking of doing one this year but a bit worried with managing a full-time job with two kids. How time consuming is the course?

Hi Davy,

I just completed a two year part-time evening/weekend course through Springboard.

The first thing I'll say is that my college (DBS) was very understanding in regards to people balancing work/study/home life and were in constant contact with us if we felt we needed more time to do assignments or if we would not be able to attend a lecture. That may not be true for every course/college.

The actual amount of work/hours will depend on the course. I had two lectures, Tuesday and Thursday 6:15pm - 9:30 pm (most lecturers let us go at 9) and one Saturday a month 10am - 5pm (again we were normally out by 3pm or even earlier).

If you had to leave the lecture early, no issues.

I personally did not do much study outside lecture hours, I did, on average, about 6 hours of study (3 hours per module) on top of lectures a week, and adjusted as appropriate for assignments/exams (there are exams).

I know people in my course who did at least one hour of study each evening and 4+ hours on the weekends for an average of about 15 hours of study a week on top of lectures; everyone is different.

Exams will be timetabled well in advance and will be weekday evenings or on a Saturday. If you can't attend an exam for whatever reason, they will try accommodate you.

I don't have children so I can't comment in that regard, but some people did have children (or were/became pregnant) so it's common.

There was a high dropout rate I would say; the course started with over 25+ and for various reasons I know of 6 that dropped out, and I believe more.

Hope this helps.

Kamu wrote: »

Hi Davy,

I just completed a two year part-time evening/weekend course through Springboard.

The first thing I'll say is that my college (DBS) was very understanding in regards to people balancing work/study/home life and were in constant contact with us if we felt we needed more time to do assignments or if we would not be able to attend a lecture. That may not be true for every course/college.

The actual amount of work/hours will depend on the course. I had two lectures, Tuesday and Thursday 6:15pm - 9:30 pm (most lecturers let us go at 9) and one Saturday a month 10am - 5pm (again we were normally out by 3pm or even earlier).

If you had to leave the lecture early, no issues.

I personally did not do much study outside lecture hours, I did, on average, about 6 hours of study (3 hours per module) on top of lectures a week, and adjusted as appropriate for assignments/exams (there are exams).

I know people in my course who did at least one hour of study each evening and 4+ hours on the weekends for an average of about 15 hours of study a week on top of lectures; everyone is different.

Exams will be timetabled well in advance and will be weekday evenings or on a Saturday. If you can't attend an exam for whatever reason, they will try accommodate you.

I don't have children so I can't comment in that regard, but some people did have children (or were/became pregnant) so it's common.

There was a high dropout rate I would say; the course started with over 25+ and for various reasons I know of 6 that dropped out, and I believe more.

Hope this helps.

Thanks Kamu.

I've just applied for two courses with 30 credits, these suit my needs more.

What courses did ye guys end up applying for?

PEACEBROTHER wrote: »

Hoping someone can help me with the below

I applied for a course with Sligo IT direct as my work confirmed they would refund cost of course - Pre covid

I got accepted to the course but now due to Covid work place are not sending people back to college this year

Financially its not possible for me to pay for the course ,

I've applied now thru spring board

Is this the right way to go about it ? Do spring board pay for the course or how does it actually work

If you are accepted, Springboard will pay 90% and you pay 10% of the fees.

If the course is 7000e, you will pay 700e.

Kamu wrote: »

If you are accepted, Springboard will pay 90% and you pay 10% of the fees.

If the course is 7000e, you will pay 700e.

Got accepted - it’s a level 6 online Quality course - have to start somewhere

Delighted to get started - should of done it years ago - stuck in same job last 10 years ( early 30’s )

No mention of funding etc yet just got approved and I accepted

Best of luck all

whats the story if youre unemployed ? can you still apply for the courses ? ive lost my job due to covid and really do not want to go back to retail. anyone did software dev or web design ? how did ye get on ?

Would finding a job be realistic after one course ?

Kamu wrote: »

You have to be in receipt of Social Benefits for 9 months of the last 12 or be in current employment to apply for a course.

You could use your last Payslip as proof of employment, but they may also as for a letter from your employer to say that you're in employment.

I know people who walked into a job after a two year part-time course, and I know others who are still looking for work in a related field to the course they did.

this is just fkin great...

thanks anyway.

fatgav wrote: »

In the applications, what are people putting down in the 'Abilities' and 'Achievements' sections? It's all rather vague

The courses I applied to didn't have those sections. Very vague, and not sure how useful that would be. But I imagine it's because nearly all courses will be oversubscribed.

OneLungDavy wrote: »

I applied for two courses last month. Any idea when we find out if we've been accepted?

Some courses are only accepting once deadlines have passed, while others seem to be processing in batches (as I was accepted by a course that was still taking applications).