If you are interested in make-up and beauty therapy, there are courses on offer in both PLC and private colleges. In both cases, you should check the qualifications offered by these courses and ask about the employment rates for graduates.

There are no tuition fees for PLC courses and students are eligible to apply for maintenance grants. However, there is a charge for professional exams. You will have to pay fees for private colleges.

There is no central applications body for PLC courses. You must contact your local VEC or PLC college. You must be Leaving Cert standard and places are usually allocated on the basis of an interview.

Qualifications recognised by the following international bodies make a good starting point: The International Therapy Examination Centre (ITEC); the Confederation of International Beauty Therapy and Cosmetology (CIBTAC); the British Association of Beauty Therapy and Cosmetology (BABTAC); and Comite International D'Esthetiqe de Cosmetologie, Zurich (CIDESCO)

If in doubt, contact the Society of Applied Cosmetology (see FactFile below).