If you missed out on doing a business-based degree programme straight from school, you may be interested in the three-year BA in management run by the Irish Management Institute. The content of the course is broadly similar to something like a B.Comm, what's different is the age profile of students and how the course is run.
To qualify for a place on the course potential students must be over 25 years of age with a minimum of seven years' work experience. The average age of students on the programme is around 33 and it goes right up to people in their 50s. The course is run between 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Friday evenings and from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays over three academic years and the next intake will be in September, with applications open now. The fees are just under £4,000 per annum and most students are paid for by their employers.
Intending students are invited to sit in on a Friday afternoon's lectures to get a feel for what lies ahead and all potential students are assessed for suitability before being offered a place on the course. If the assessment results indicate that a student would be better on a different type of programme this suggestion will be made. Topics covered in the first year are economics, management, organisational behaviour, statistics, accounting and information technology.
"We find there is a good correlation between how people do in the assessment and their grades throughout the course," says programme director John Mangan. "We pay a lot of attention to bringing people to the starting point of the course and taking them through the application process and the course itself. Perhaps as a result of this we have a very low drop-out rate - at most one student a year."
Because the students on the programme all work full-time, the IMI aims to make the studying experience as logistically simple as possible. So students are fed while at the course and books are provided. There are 32 students in this year's intake and most are availing of a "second chance" educational opportunity. Assessment methods for the course are by exam (60 per cent) and continuous assessment (40 per cent). This programme has been running since 1986. For further information contact John Mangan at telephone (01) 207 8574 or e-mail john.mangan@imi.ie
