2. Breda Whelan, Guidance Counsellor 201466

3. 77 CAO Information Evening All Information is in CAO Handbook and Website. Dates and Following CAO Procedure very Important. Students are all familiar with all of this information. Familiarise Parents with main points of CAO

4. Breda Whelan, Guidance Counsellor 201488 Decision Making Your Choice Opening Doors and Opportunities Combination of Ability, Aptitude and Interest Happy and Content with Decisions

5. Breda Whelan, Guidance Counsellor 201499 Key points in Applying to 3 rd level Centralised Application System for 3 rd level Institutions. Every 6 th Year has a pack since September containing all of application and course information and familiar with websites Application Process has many stages and these must be adhered to or YOU Could LOSE YOUR COURSE PLACE NB late CAO 1 st May but can’t apply restricted courses

6. Breda Whelan, Guidance Counsellor 201410 Timetable of CAO Events November 3 rd CAO online Application Facility opens January 20 th apply online by this date,avail of discount price of 25 euro. Free change of mind until Jan 31st Feb 1 1 February closing date up until 5.15 Cost 40 euro NB must have Restricted Courses in Application( Feb 5 th can amend courses up until 1 st March but charge 10 euro) March/April Tests and auditions for restricted courses Closing date for HEAR/DARE Applications May 5 th Before End May Change of Mind facility opens NB Statement of Application Record

7. Breda Whelan, Guidance Counsellor 201411 Continued CAO Dates July 1 st 5.15pm Change of mind online facility closes. Mid August Leaving Cert results are issued (expected 13 th August) 18th August (expected date) round 1 offers are issued. 25th Aug (expected date) offers must be accepted 27 th of August Round 2 offers [opportunity to view scripts: Early September]

8. Breda Whelan, Guidance Counsellor 201412 Restricted Courses Care must be taken with courses that are marked restricted these are marked clearly in handbook These courses cannot be applied for after 1 st of February because they have extra assessments eg some art courses, medicine, music and architecture.(clearly marked) Can Be amended 10 euro fee from 5 February to 1 st March

9. Breda Whelan, Guidance Counsellor 201413 Timely Action In order to be fair to all applicants, closing dates are strict and therefore action should be taken in good time Do not leave everything to the last minute

10. Breda Whelan, Guidance Counsellor 201414 Choosing Courses Research Research each course carefully from prospectus, websites and visiting college etc Consult with your Guidance Counsellor Discuss with family and friends Websites: CAO, Qualifax.ie, Careersportal.ie (Reach Programme) College websites etc. Careerdirections.ie, Steps.ie

11. Breda Whelan, Guidance Counsellor 201415 It is the applicants responsibility to: Research thoroughly all courses for which he/she is making an application Be familiar with all aspects of application system Better if candidates are around themselves in August to accept college offers etc

12. Breda Whelan, Guidance Counsellor 201416

13. Breda Whelan, Guidance Counsellor 201417 College Entry Requirements General College Requirements: Degree[Hons] [Level 8] requirements: Cert[Level6]/Pass Degree[Level 7] Requirements: Specific Course Requirements: Points

14. Breda Whelan, Guidance Counsellor 201418 Breda Whelan: March 2014 Basic College Subject Requirements Level 8[Hons Degree] IT or University 2 HC3s and 4 OD3s [TCD and Colleges of Education= 3HC3s and 3OD3s] level 7 courses 2Hs+4Os NUI Colleges 2Hs + 4Os, require a pass 3 languages [Irish, English and a Modern Language] no lang requirement for Science, Engineering or Nursing courses Primary Teaching 3Hs + 3Os Level 7[Pass Degree ] IT usually 5 OD3s Pass in English/Irish and Maths Level 6[Higher Certificate] IT usually 5 OD3s Pass in English/Irish and Maths

15. Breda Whelan, Guidance Counsellor 201419 Subject Requirements Maths, English & Irish - most commonly required. A 3rd Language is required by the NUI Colleges. Except Science, engineering and nursing Most Business courses state a requirement in Maths - not a business subject! An Art portfolio is required for most art related courses - Art itself is not always a requirement! A minimum of one science subject is required for the following fields: Nursing, Medical/paramedical, Science, Engineering

16. Breda Whelan, Guidance Counsellor 201420 POINTS ALLOCATION GradeHonours Ordinary A110060 A29050 B18545 B28040 B37535 C170 30 C265 25 C360 20 D1 5515 D25010 D3455 Honours maths extra 25 points LCVP Distinction 70 points Merit 50 points Pass 30 points

17. Summary College Requirements: NUI Colleges :NUIG,NUIM,UCC&UCD 2H&4O including 3langs(Eng,Irish&lang) except science,nursing or engineering courses Trinity: 3H&3O including Eng,Irish/Lang and Maths DCU: 2H &4O including Eng/irish and Maths UL: 2H&4O including Eng,Irish/Lang and Maths IT: Eng/Irish and Maths Level 8 (2H&4O) Level 6/7 (5OD) Breda Whelan, Guidance Counsellor 201421

18. Breda Whelan, Guidance Counsellor 201422 Levels 6, 7 and 8 Students have 20 choices in CAO 10 choices from level 8 courses and 10 from of level 6 and 7 courses Each list of 10 choices are treated independently In August Students will hopefully get 2 offers 1 offer from level 8 choice and 1 offer from level 6 choice

19. Breda Whelan, Guidance Counsellor 201423 Importance of Career Planning Student may get 2 offers from CAO Important that you make your choices carefully E.g you could be offered your 5 th Choice from your level 8 choices or your 1 st choice from your level 6/7 choice What do you choose?

20. Breda Whelan, Guidance Counsellor 201424 HPAT test for medicine Medicine in Ireland is now a restricted course Students cannot apply for medicine unless they have sat the HPAT Register to sit HPAT 4th November to 20 th January you must have applied to CAO first as need a CAO number Exam is on 1 st March only at number of locations (2.5 hours multiple choice) Results are out in 23rd June

21. Breda Whelan, Guidance Counsellor 201425 CAO Application 1. Online application is very straight forward 2. Students have all done draft on online 3. Personal information 4. Educational Information 5. Choices 6. Any other relevant information 7. Payment visa,laser or bank 8. HEAR and DARE sections 9. Access Routes: by colleges not in HEAR/DARE 10. NB everything required is filled in properly as you could lose your place in college in August. 11. NB: check statement of record is correct in May

22. Breda Whelan, Guidance Counsellor 201426 CAO application Remember 20 choices, 10 choices level 8 list and 10 choices level 6/7list Your choices on one list do not affect the other. Treated as two independent separate lists Don’t lose your CAO number or forget your password. Keep it safe

23. Breda Whelan, Guidance Counsellor 201427 NB: May Statement of Application Record This notifies you the candidate of what information CAO has about you on file eg courses applied for etc. If you have not heard from them by 1 June contact them immediately. This is totally your responsibility and this is where mistakes are made

24. Breda Whelan, Guidance Counsellor 201428 Order of Preference Most important thing to be learnt tonight is: ORDER OF PREFERENCE Place your course choice in genuine order of preference! To do otherwise would be a grave mistake NB nobody knows what the points are for any course it solely depends on the demand for the course

25. Breda Whelan, Guidance Counsellor 201429 Genuine Preference Course that are popular will generally have high points. Points have no bearing on the difficulty or the value of any course. Do not make choices based on predictions of next years cut off points or their own point scores. Put down what you genuinely want not what you think you will get.

26. Breda Whelan, Guidance Counsellor 201430 The Offer Process: Your offer notice may contain an offer for a Level 8 course or a Level 7/6 course or both If you receive two offers at the same time you may only accept one of them. If you wish to accept an offer of a place you must carry out the instructions on the offer notice before 5.15pm on the closing date for acceptance printed on the offer notice. Deferral Procedure

27. Breda Whelan, Guidance Counsellor 201431 How Places are Allocated We will look just at Level 8 courses, but exactly the same process will take place with Level 7/6 courses, and at the same time. The importance of you, the applicant, placing courses in genuine order of preference will become apparent in the following slides.

28. Breda Whelan, Guidance Counsellor 201432 These are the applicants for CK101 Arts in UCC. The examination results have not yet been released, so these applicants are in no particular order.We are going to trace the progress of the applicant marked in red.

29. Breda Whelan, Guidance Counsellor 201433 Applicants are placed in a queue for each course they applied for, their position in the queue is determined by their points. The applicant with the highest points is placed at the top of the queue. The points achieved by the applicant in red determines his position in the queue for each course he applied to.

30. Breda Whelan, Guidance Counsellor 201434 The applicants marked in green have enough points to be offered places. The applicant marked in red has enough points for his second preference.

31. Breda Whelan, Guidance Counsellor 201435 The applicant in red is offered his second preference, the highest preference course that he has enough points for, and he will now disappear from the queue in all his lower choices. Placing DN201 as his second preference meant that he would prefer to receive an offer on DN201 than on any other course except CK101 - which is his first preference.

32. Breda Whelan, Guidance Counsellor 201436 Having been offered his second preference he must now decide to accept it or to do nothing. If he does not accept the offer the place will be offered to another applicant in the next round of offers. Regardless of whether he accepts or not he will still be considered for an offer on his first preference if a place becomes available. In the second round, one more offer was made on CK101 and our applicant is now at the top of the queue.

33. Breda Whelan, Guidance Counsellor 201437 Genuine Order of Preference You do not need to guess what the points are going to be for the courses you are interested in. Simply list your courses in genuine order of preference from the highest preference 1, to the lowest preference 10. If you are entitled to an offer, you will be offered the highest preference that you are entitled to.

34. Breda Whelan, Guidance Counsellor 201438 Places Allocation Notes of Importance: The position of a course in a student’s preference order does not in any way affect their chance of getting a place on that course. The exact same procedure takes place for both lists on the form, hence students may get 2 offers in August – one from each list, may accept only one. Students should think carefully about not accepting one of these offers, as they may not receive any further offers. Regardless of whether or not they accept a course in round 1, they will still be offered a higher preference course in subsequent rounds if they become entitled one.

35. Breda Whelan, Guidance Counsellor 201439 Alternative Entry to College A new awards system for further education and training at levels 1-6 was introduced in 2012 The new awards system will be known as CAS Common Awards System fully integrated by Jan 2014 A new scoring system (on higher Education Links Scheme) NB 20% of all all CAO applicants have level5 or 6 fetac award

36. Breda Whelan, Guidance Counsellor 201440 Examples of popular PLC colleges: Ennis Community College Limerick College of Futher Education Galway Technical Institute Cork College of Commerce  Students apply directly to the COLLEGES for these places not the CAO

37. Breda Whelan, Guidance Counsellor 201441 Examples of popular PLC courses: Beauty and Alternative Therapies Accounting Technician Nursing Studies Social Studies Sports and Recreation Car Maintenance

38. Breda Whelan, Guidance Counsellor 201442 Higher Education Link Scheme ( CAS/FETAC) Universities only offer places from a reserved quota IT’s generally accept applications based on any CAS or FETAC award in open competition with Leaving Cert Candidates. Can get up to 400 points!! There are 38 higher Institutions involved Information on CAO website

39. Breda Whelan, Guidance Counsellor 201443 NOTE: Not all courses in the universities accept a CAS/FETAC qualification as an entry requirement eg. No FETAC entry for Medicine It is listed clearly listed now whether a CAS/FETAC entry route is available or not.

40. Breda Whelan, Guidance Counsellor 201444 Example of Pathway 2: Another difference is that theCAS/ FETAC course does not necessarily HAVE to be linked in content to the HEI course they are applying to HOWEVER some do require specific FETAC courses. Example: Early Childhood Care and Education in ITT (Level 8) requires a specific FETAC award in Childcare HOWEVER the level 7 entry to the same course will accept ANY FETAC award.

41. Breda Whelan, Guidance Counsellor 201445 Other Alternatives: Apprenticeships and trade Difficult to get an apprenticeship at the moment Construction Practice Course lead apprentice or Technician Agricultural Colleges The Gardai,keep an eye on Publicjobs.ie for advice recruitment Cadets : 3HD + 3ODs UCAS: English System, academic,personal statement,reference and interview

42. Breda Whelan, Guidance Counsellor 201446 Postgraduate Entry: Postgraduate study is a Level 9 qualification and can only be done once a student has a Level 8 Honours Degree. The postgraduate route is an opportunity to allow students specialise in an area eg.Clinical Psychology.

43. Breda Whelan, Guidance Counsellor 201447 Postgraduate Entries: However, Postgraduate Entry can also allow access to courses that students may not have been able to get because points were so high. Example: The 18 month Grad Dip in Primary Teaching is available for graduates of all disciplines but students must still have their HC3 in Irish. This is also available in the UK.

44. Breda Whelan, Guidance Counsellor 201448 Worth Noting! Some Postgrad Entry to courses require SPECIFIC undergrad degrees therefore the undergrad you choose now is important. Example: Grad Entry to OT and Speech and Language (2yrs in UL) require graduates from psychology, health sciences, sociology etc.

45. Breda Whelan, Guidance Counsellor 201449 Many students also avail of Postgrad Opportunities in the UK: Example: A popular route for many Irish students who are interested in Pharmacy has been to go to the Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen for 4yrs after they have completed a degree in Science Example 2: Graduates from a discipline like Sports Science or a Health Science could do a postgrad in the UK in Physiotherapy (2 yrs).

46. Breda Whelan, Guidance Counsellor 201450 UK Option! There are a number of accelerated degrees in the Health Sciences available in the UK in courses such as: Nursing OT Speech and Language Therapy Physiotherapy Radiography Medicine Dentistry If interested in any of these RESEARCH NOW so you do the right undergrad!!

47. Breda Whelan, Guidance Counsellor 201451 Specific learning Difficulties Students with a disability or a specific learning difficulty such as dyslexia can indicate this on their CAO form Once students tick this box on their CAO form they are asked to fill in a Supplementary Information Form which involves details about what kind of help they received in school and how the disability or learning difficulty has effected their learning

48. Breda Whelan, Guidance Counsellor 201452 DARE Application Students with a learning difficulty or a disability are also given the opportunity to apply through the Disability Access Route to Education (DARE) This is a new procedure on the CAO that may allow a student with a SLD or a disability entry to a course even if they are short some of the points Not everybody that has a SLD is guaranteed entry through DARE

49. Breda Whelan, Guidance Counsellor 201453 DARE Only a certain number of colleges are part of the DARE scheme Students must have a psychological report or medical report in order to qualify for the DARE scheme If students are not accepted for the DARE scheme they will compete with all other CAO applicants. Their application to DARE will not affect their CAO application in any way.

50. Breda Whelan, Guidance Counsellor 201454 HEAR The Higher Education Access Route (HEAR) is a third level admissions scheme for school leavers from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds. It is NOT a maintanence grant – it is an admissions scheme to help students who might not traditionally go to third level.

51. Breda Whelan, Guidance Counsellor 201455 The HEAR Application School leavers who present satisfactory evidence relating to their socio-economic circumstances and satisfy matriculation/minimum entry and subject requirements are eligible to compete for a quota of places allocated to applicants on a reduced points basis across these HEIs

52. Breda Whelan, Guidance Counsellor 201456 Applications for HEAR School leavers who wish to be considered for the HEAR scheme must indicate this in the appropriate section in Part A of the application form before March 1st You will then be asked to complete a number of additional questions relating to your family’s financial situation; employment status of parents; and school(s) attended

53. Breda Whelan, Guidance Counsellor 201457 Applications for HEAR and DARE: All applicants for HEAR must complete this part of the application online at www.cao.ie as part of the CAO application process. Applications for HEAR consideration can only be made online Applications for both HEAR and DARE must be made by the 1 st March

54. Breda Whelan, Guidance Counsellor 201458 Grants 3 rd level grants are means accessed Students who want to go to university can apply for a grant, contact www.studentfinance.iewww.student More information can be got at www.studentfinance.ie www.studentfinance.ie SUSSI new more efficient system !

55. Breda Whelan, Guidance Counsellor 201459 Remember! You need to be around for the time immediately after the Leaving Certificate results in order to take care of the following:  accepting your offer  If you want to view a script  If you want to get any paper rechecked  To sort out your accommodation! 

56. Breda Whelan, Guidance Counsellor 201460 Scholarships: Academic Schlorships based on academic preformance and awarded by college. Sports Scholarships apply to individual college eg hurling, rowing, basketball etc Other Scholarships : Intel engineering, sometimes companies may offer scholarships to colleges E.g over 40 different scholarships or bursaries in UL alone

57. Breda Whelan, Guidance Counsellor 201461 Accommodation  Most colleges have officer and can advise on accommodation  On Campus is probably best Make friends with other 1 st years Utilitiy bills paid to management company Better chance of settling in to college near activities.

58. Ucas english System 15Oct 2013- medical and vet sciences Cambridge /Oxford universities All other courses 15 January 2014 Different system :Register, Personal Statement, predicted Grades, Reference and sometimes interview Research Courses thoroughly Breda Whelan, Guidance Counsellor 201462

59. Breda Whelan, Guidance Counsellor 201463 Useful Resources College Prospectuses – 2014 Entry Careersportal + Reach Programme CAO Handbook 2014 www.Qualifax.ie www.Careerdirections.ie www.gotocollege.ie  Thank You