Bridget O'Dwyer started work at an AIB branch in Dublin this summer. She had just completed a one-year PLC course in Gairmscoil Mhuire in Thurles, Co Tipperary, where she studied computers and business studies.

"I was a bit puzzled after the Leaving Cert. I got a place in college but I wasn't too sure of what I wanted to do. I knew I liked computers so I knew it would be a good starting point but then I ended up loving it," she says.

"We did most of the work during the day. We got a lot of projects done in the day. Some evenings you'd have to go home and work but it didn't happen that often. It was a practical course." The class of 24 studied a mixture of subjects including French and communications as well as computers and business-related studies.

Today she's working in the accounts department of the bank. "It's lovely here. It's very computerised. I like it. I started in June." The course prepared her for this kind of work, she explains. Also the "guidance counsellor at school was very helpful, helping us with interviews and getting us to apply for jobs".

Doing the PLC course made a big difference to her, she says. "We were treated like adults, as if we were in third-level. There's a more friendly relationship between students and staff. You grow up as well. The transition from school to moving away was a lot easier for me as well because of that year."