Some great British alternatives

For anyone with a reasonably good Leaving Cert and no suitable college place here at home, the UCAS clearing system in Britain is good news. Even if you've never considered going to college across the water or in Northern Ireland, it's not to late to apply for a place there. Every year, during August and September, once the A-Level results are published, UCAS, the British central admissions service, offers a clearing system for vacant third level places in colleges and universities in Northern Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales. Initially, there are thousands of places available, but good courses tend to be snapped up quickly, so anyone contemplating a British application at this stage needs to act quickly.

Last year, almost 68,000 applicants accepted places through clearing - 58,000 to degree programmes and just under 10,000 to HND courses. All this week, and on 27th and 31st August, and 7th and 16th September, the London Independent will publish lists of college vacancies.

UCAS, meanwhile, is publishing an interactive course vacancy service on the Worldwide Web until 17 September.

The service, which will be updated daily throughout the clearing period, can be accessed via the UCAS website on www.ucas.ac.uk. In addition, BBC TWO CEEFAX has teamed up with UCAS to provide lists of course vacancies on pages 700799. Clearing entry forms and detailed instructions on how to enter the system are available from UCAS. If you are interested in examining possibilities within the British system, you need to go through the list of vacancies and decide if there's anything of interest. Shortlist about half a dozen courses and start ringing the relevant colleges and ask to speak to the admissions tutor for the particular course.

Find out as much as you can about the course which interests you. Have your Leaving Certificate results to hand - the tutor will be able to tell you whether you merit a place, based on a discussion of your exam results. Do be sure to make your telephone calls before you fill in the application form. Experts advise that you get your offer, accept it and then deal with the paper work.

If you have made no application to UCAS by mid-August, "it is more important at this stage to check the listings and contact suitable colleges. If they are interested in accepting you, the paperwork can be dealt with afterwards", the British Council advises.

However, the Council warns that students are unlikely to be offered places in high-demand courses - veterinary or medicine for example.

Nonetheless, "if a student is flexible and has reasonable qualifications, then there is a very good chance of obtaining a suitable place".

Even if you have already made applications through UCAS, but have narrowly missed being offered a place, it's worth contacting the colleges, which made you conditional offers. You may well find that you are offered a place on the original course, despite your marks, or that you are directed to a different course.

If it is suggested that you do a HND (Higher National Dip loma) course, consider it carefully. You may well be able to transfer to a degree course at a later stage. This year, for some students, applying to college in Britain may be a little more onerous than in the past. The Association of University Teachers has taken four days' industrial action - two days in Scotland and two days in England and Wales - to coincide with the publication of A-Levels and Scottish Highers.

Although this action only affects the older (pre-1992) universities, it will inevitably result in decision-making delays in those institutions.

However, a UCAS spokes person stresses that administrative staff in the universities affected by the action will be on hand to answer queries.

When it comes to accepting a place, there are mixed views on whether students should visit a college before making the final decision.

The advice from the experts is that if you are offered the chance of an interview, jump at it. It gives you the chance to look around the campus. Students from the country can find it particularly difficult to settle into big cities like Liverpool, Manchester of Birmingham.

Neasa O'Shea from Castlegregory, Co Kerry, who is student union education and welfare officer at the University of Teeside, says that some students could be easily put off college if they dislike the city in which they find themselves. "I didn't come to Teeside to have a look. I went by the prospectus. I thought it would be an average town on the North East coast. In fact it's very, very industrialised. It was a big shock."

NEASA advises Irish students going to Britain for the first time to opt for campus rather than private accommodation. It's a great way to make friends with other students and to avail of college social life, she notes.

At Teeside, "the social life is fantastic. Over here, people get much more dressed up to go out. At home you go down to the pub in jeans and a Tshirt".

The downside of going to college in Britain is finance.

Although higher education maintenance grants are available, Irish students taking up third-level places, you may be required to pay a means-tested tuition fee of up to £1,025 per annum.

If the family income falls below STG£17,370 all fees will be paid. However, students with family incomes above STG£27,570 can expect no help.

For many students living in the border counties, going to college in Northern Ireland is only a relatively short bus ride away.

If you live in some parts of Donegal, for example, it's often easier to go to college in Derry or Belfast than it is to get to Letterkenny or Dublin. Traditionally, students from the Republic have accounted for 10 per cent of the annual intake into both Queen's University, Belfast (QUB) and the University of Ulster (UU).

However, the introduction of fees has meant a decrease in the numbers applying. According to Stirling Wisener, QUB's admission's officer, intake from the Republic has dropped by 45 per cent over the last two years and applications from the Republic have almost halved during that period. At UU, applications from the Republic are down by 30 per cent on last year, according to admissions officer Tony Barnhill. However, applications from students in the border counties remain strong, he says.