Your education questions answered by Brian Mooney, President of the Institute of Guidance Counsellors.
If you put down three courses in the degree/diploma sequence option on your CAO application, can you add more courses to it in the "change of mind" window? Also, can you leave out some of the original choices? If you haven't made up your mind, does it make any difference as long as you put something down initially, and you can then change up to July when you have settled on something more definite?
No matter what courses you list on your initial CAO application, you may enter anything you wish under the "change of mind" facility. At all times, you can enter up to 10 courses on each list. The only exception to this rule is that you may not enter restricted application courses after the February 1st deadline.
Regarding civil engineering - can you go on to an honours degree course from a diploma, ordinary degree? Do you do this in an IT or a university? Is there any difference between a diploma course and an "ordinary" degree? What does it mean when an institute of technology indicates AQA (all qualified applicants) will access a course, while another may require 350 points for the same course?
You may go on to do an honours degree from a certificate after you have completed your diploma. You normally do this at the IT you start your certificate course at, but it is possible to apply to transfer to a university to complete the degree. Most institutions set a hurdle of a 2:1 as a minimum entry score at each stage, but each case is considered on its merits.
Ordinary degrees are a new concept introduced by the National Qualifications Authority, under their recently announced structure of qualifications. In the current year, the DIT have upgraded a range of their diploma courses to ordinary (pass) degree level. Students achieving such a qualification could, of course, transfer to the final years of an honours degree programme.
AQA means that all students who met the minimum entry requirements for the course were offered places. The fact that the same course in another college required a minimum of 350 points simply means that they had more applicants and could accommodate only those students with over 350 points.
Would you recommend answering the Leaving Cert maths paper through Irish? What exactly do they look for? Is it just a matter of writing down freagre beside the answer? I would appreciate a speedy reply as we are being pressurised at school to decide on the medium through which we will answer.
Any student may register to take a paper through Irish. They can, in fact, ask the superintendent for both English and Irish versions. In some subjects a bonus of up to 10 per cent is available to those who answer through Irish. In maths this bonus is 5 per cent. There are a certain amount of answers that require language in maths. If a student has to use any English there is no bonus awarded. For students scoring over 75 per cent, the bonus is a scaled-down score of the bonus percentage. If you have good Irish and know the Irish for mathematical terms, you might consider this option.
E-mail questions to bmooney@irish-times.ie
