A number of queries have been repeated on the helpline. This column attempts to answer some of these common queries.
CAO Handbook And Free Fees
This year three private third-level colleges are offering courses through the CAO: LSB College, Dublin, American College, Dublin, and Portobello College, Dublin. Full fees are payable for courses offered by these colleges; however standard-rate tax relief may be claimed. If a course is not eligible for the free fees initiative, students are not eligible to apply for maintenance grants.
Students studying medicine in the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland must also pay fees but of the 40 first-year places reserved for EU students, there are scholarships available for 10 students. These include total remission of the fees and a £1,000 bursary per student.
There are three course codes listed in the CAO handbook. RC001 is for students who will accept a place in medicine in the RCSI without a scholarship. RC002 is for students hoping to get a scholarship through the college's entrance exam while RC003 is for students hoping to secure a scholarship through their Leaving Cert results. Students can use all three course codes, but this means using up three of their 10 degree choices.
There is now no restriction on the number of times students can sit the entrance exam or the Leaving Cert in the hope of gaining a scholarship, says the RCSI's admissions officer. The entrance exam has been realigned so that it is closer to the Leaving Cert in content while home economics (social and scientific) is offered as a subject in this exam for the first time this year. Applications for the entrance exam should be directed to the college's examinations office and the exam is usually held four or five days after the end of the Leaving Cert.
Finally, there are two other courses listed in the CAO handbook for which full fees are payable. These are both offered by the Dublin Institute of Technol- ogy - preliminary engineering (DT120) and music foundation (DT604). The Department of Education does not recognise these courses as fulfilling the criteria for third-level courses so full fees must be paid.
Exam Repeats
Students who have to repeat a year, for reasons other than certified illness, are liable to pay full fees for their repeat year.
Dropping Out
Students who drop out of an undergraduate course (other than a course funded by the European Social Fund) before the halfway mark, January 31st, has passed, need pay only half fees for a subsequent first year.
However, if the January 31st deadline has passed, you will be liable for full fees for your next first year. Students on ESF-funded courses may drop out during first year and reapply for a substantially different ESF-funded course without affecting their free fees entitlement.
If you decide to leave your course midway through the year you should notify the college.
Certs And Diplomas
The free fees initiative applies to students progressing up the ladder from certificate to diploma to degree. This process may take four or five years: a two-year cert, followed by a one-year diploma, followed by a one or two-year degree. For the purposes of the free fees initiative, it doesn't matter if the process takes four or five years.
Changing Course
Every CAO applicant will receive an application record and change-of-mind form in May. The CAO handbook states that you need to request a change-ofmind form but this has been changed in response to guidance counsellors so ignore the directions on page six of the CAO handbook and sit back and wait for the change-of-mind form.
You may change your mind about your choice of courses as often as you like up to 5.15 p.m. on July 1st. This means students will have completed the Leaving Certificate and have a little time to reconsider before the final closing date. No fee is charged for changes of mind.
Gaeltacht Places
An irate Dublin mother wanted to know why her son - who attended a bunscoil lan-Gaelach and is now in a meanscoil lanGaelach and who speaks Irish at home - is not allowed to compete for the Gaeltacht places. We also had calls from guidance counsellors wanting to know why these places are reserved at all.
A glance at last year's points shows that general applicants for teacher training in St Patrick's College, Drumcondra, required 470* (* means random selection applied) to secure a place, while the cut-off level for Gaeltacht applicants was 440. Similarly, there was a 40-point difference between places awarded to Gaeltacht applicants and general applicants in Mary Immaculate College, Limerick. Gaeltacht applicants for Colaiste Mhuire, Marino, and Froebel College of Education, Dublin, needed 25 and 40 points fewer, respectively, to secure a place.
The Department of Education and Science points out that, for more than 30 years, government policy in support of the Irish language has included provision for up to 10 per cent of places in the colleges of education to be reserved for Gaeltacht applicants. Each college is required to reserve up to 10 per cent of its annual intake for Gaeltacht applicants and to ensure that the places are filled in the CAO offers procedure.
Gaeltacht applicants compete separately from other applicants for these places and, given the smaller number of such applicants, this may mean that the points required are lower. However, the Department's statement adds that not all Gaeltacht applicants necessarily have lower points than other applicants.
All aspects of entry requirements to primary colleges of education are reviewed on a regular basis by the Department of Education and Science in consultation with the authorities of these colleges, according to the Department. It is open to members of the public to make submissions to the Commission on the Points System, the statement concludes.
Points And Leaving Cert
Points cannot be accumulated over a number of Leaving Certs. They will be calculated on the basis of one sitting only. But you can accumulate subject requirements over two or more Leaving Certs. For instance, if you needed a higher-level B in maths to secure a place on UCD's engineering course, you need only achieve this in one sitting of the Leaving Cert. Or if you need Irish for the NUI colleges, once you have passed it, that is sufficient.
If you are repeating the Leaving, remember to fill out the appropriate box or boxes on page one of the CAO form. The CAO reports that this is quite a common omission and, if it is not picked up by students in the May statement, they will not get credit for a previous year's exam.
Bonus Points And Maths
Bonus points for higher-level Leaving Cert maths are now awarded by the University of Limerick only. Bonuses are as follows: 40 points for an A1, 35 for an A2, 30 for a B1, 25 for a B2, 20 for a B3, 15 for a C1, 10 for a C2 and five for a C3. These are added to the points for the particular grade you obtained.
The DIT also awards bonus points for maths and a number of science subjects in the case of the electrical/electronic engineering course FT221.
Irish Exemptions
You can claim an exemption from the Irish requirement of the NUI if you were born outside Ireland (32 counties); if you received your primary education up to age of 11 years outside the Republic; if you resided outside Ireland (32 counties) for at least three years immediately before you become eligible for matriculation or if you received your post-primary education outside the Republic for the three years immediately preceding matriculation.
In addition, you may compensate for a grade E on a higher-level Irish paper or any other subject if you have three other grade C3s on higher-level papers or at least one grade B3 and one grade C3 at higher level or the equivalent grade at the matriculation or on the joint results of both examinations.
Points For New Courses
A number of callers wanted to know what the points would be like for NUI Maynooth's new computing course, for the private colleges and for UCD's new economics and finance degree. The simple answer is - nobody knows.
Some people are still under the impression that points are decided arbitrarily by the colleges. In fact, points are set by the students. The number and quality of applicants (as measured in points) and the number of places determine the points level. The cut-off points are simply the points achieved by the last student who was offered a place on the course. In other words, everyone else in the class will have similar or higher points.
In general, the fewer the places and the higher the demand, the higher the points are likely to be.
CAO Advisory Evening
Tallaght RTC will hold a CAO advisory evening on Thursday from 5.30 p.m. until 9 p.m. This is aimed at Leaving Cert applicants, mature students, NCVA/PLC students, non-standard applicants and parents.
There will be information on the CAO system and application procedures as well as on courses and careers in science, engineering, business and the humanities. Advice will also be available on CERT professional cookery and hospitality skills.
Additional reporting by Catherine Foley
Helpline
Students, parents and teachers with queries about colleges, courses and application procedures are invited to call the College Choice helpline between 4.30 p.m. and 5.30 p.m. today. Tel: (01) 679 2350.