Q & A

Q: My Son says that the entry fee for CAO applications is £15 for 1999 college entry but I saw a sum of £18 for last year in the Going to College supplement in August. Has the fee been reduced?

Dublin mother

If you wish to apply to CAO through the normal system for 1999, the fee is £18. However, you may also apply over the Internet or via computer diskette through school computer systems for £15. The CAO will launch the on-line system later this month in association with the National Centre for Technology in Education (NCTE).

First of all, the guidance counsellor or student registers (free) with the NCTE and links to a specially designed Web CAO form on the schools network at www.scoilnet.ie

The discount fee of £15 must be paid in advance by bank giro.

The software version is available on disk for PCs (using Windows 95 or Windows 98) as part of the Qualifax Courses 1999 software package. Schools then return the disk to the NCTE.

The system is easy to use even for those with little or no computer experience. An advantage is that mistakes can be easily corrected. Also, since only 1999 valid codes are accepted, it reduces errors and checks for common mistakes such as the incorrect date of birth.

Changes may be made at any time before closing date. Applications get to CAO much quicker and are then acknowledged by post in the normal way.

Q: What happens to students who are upgraded in the Leaving Cert after the rechecks are through? Do you have to take the new course offer? I started a degree course in computing in mid-September. Then I got an offer of a degree course in engineering. I feel it's too late to start on that now as I would be too far behind the other students for lectures and practicals. What is my best option?

Tipperary student

When your results are upgraded and you get an offer of another course late in the season which you had ranked higher on your preference list, you may then choose to hold your original offer or opt for your new course.

This year some 300 students are entitled to better offers but results of upgrades were not known until October 12th - last year the relevant date was September 30th. Generally, all who get upgrades are accommodated in the current academic year.

This year for the first time two results were downgraded. Colleges had warned that offers might have to be withdrawn in these circumstances. It remains to be seen if this will happen in this offer season.

Colleges immediately telephone students so that they can start courses straight away but quite often colleges are unable to accommodate the extra students in courses which have a large practical component such as engineering or in courses which have a definite quota of places such as medicine.

While the Department has to negotiate these extra places with the Higher Education Authority, every effort is made to accommodate students in the current year. Colleges may advise students to defer to next year especially if the offer is late in the term.

Since you feel that it's too late to catch up, you should contact the college which is offering you engineering, submit a letter asking for a deferral on the basis that it's so late and that this situation has arisen through no fault of your own but because of the upgrade and ask them to clarify the fee situation for next year. That college will then in turn have to establish the precise situation in your case with the Department of Education and Science third level grants section but I think you have a very good case.

In the meantime, you should continue with your computing course until you get the full story. Normally if you repeat a year, you are not eligible for free fees the second year so you should definitely clarify this.

Q: I'm a Leaving Cert student with a physical disability but I would love to go to college next year and live at home. Should I apply through the CAO or the college? I may not get enough points for what I want but I hope to get close enough. Will I get in?

Dublin Student.

You should do both. All students applying for third-level education must go through the CAO. In your case, you should also complete the Special Category box on the CAO form so that the college can be alerted to your particular physical needs and make appropriate arrangements are for you.

You can do this without fear of any adverse effect - the college simply needs to know what you need to have in place when you arrive. This is certainly necessary in your case but sometimes, if there is no particular physical requirement, it would be sufficient to tell the disability access officer at the beginning of term.

You may gain admission through standard entry if you expect to get the necessary points in the Leaving Cert. If not you could go through the nonstandard entry route if your disability prevents you from competing equally in the Leaving Cert.

In any event, third-level colleges have the discretion to admit you when they accept that your disability has prevented you from gaining the minimum entry points for the course of your choice as long as the college is satisfied that you are academically able for this course.

Whichever route you feel is most appropriate for you, be it standard or non- standard, you should also write to the admissions officer in the college outlining any factors which may have affected your schooling such as long hospitalisation etc. If you decide on the non-standard entry approach, you are strongly advised to apply directly to the college this month. You may be invited for interview so that you can make your case, discuss your educational career to date and your interest in this particular course.

Some very useful booklets are available, among them Accessing Third-Level Education in Ireland and A Guide to Grants, Scholarships and Disability Benefits from the Association for Higher Education Access and Disability (AHEAD), Newman House, 86 St Stephen's Green, Dublin 2 - phone (01) 475 2386.