Your education questions answered.

My son is sitting his Leaving Certificate in June and has applied to the CAO. We are living in Cork and he is interested in studying business. He has listed a number of business courses around the State on his initial application. Due to financial circumstances, we would find it difficult to support him away from home. Could you advise us as to what business degree courses are available locally?

For a student wishing to study business in Cork there is a wide range of choices available. UCC has a vibrant commerce faculty. It has a portfolio of courses from the general BComm to the BComm (European), which has options in five languages and involves a year abroad. There are also more specialised programmes - the B Sc accounting, the B.Sc finance, B.Sc business information systems and the B Sc. programme in government.

The B Sc accounting takes three years and the others are four-year courses, which provide a placement in the third year. It might be of interest to your son to note that in the Final Admittance Examination of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland (North and South) in autumn 2003, out of more than 1,000 students, three UCC B Sc Accounting graduates were placed in the top 10, indeed one took top place.

In this column last week, I listed courses available through Irish. The one course I omitted was the UCC's BComm (Eur) le Gaeilge (CK 209). This course is taught jointly by the commerce faculty and the Department of Modern Irish. In the third year, students may either spend the academic year in work placement with a company that does business mainly or partly through Irish or, alternatively, they may spend the year studying business and Irish at the University of Aberdeen, under the Erasmus/Socrates scheme.

Equally good degree programmes are available through the Cork Institute of Technology. CIT offers two main business degree options: the honours bachelor of business studies and the honours bachelor of business information systems.

The bachelor of business studies degree is accessed through the two-year certificate in business studies, after which students specialise either in a marketing stream or an accounting stream for a year (diploma level). In the fourth year, students can avail of the accounting and/or marketing options through their choice of subjects. Apply for CR 021.

The bachelor of business information systems is a four-year honours degree with a strong mix of business and technology subjects. Apply for CR 150.

I am confident that your son will find a programme to suit him within the courses listed above. I would advise him to consult his guidance counsellor before listing his options and before the closing date for such changes, July 1st, 2004. He could also contact the business faculties in both colleges.