Opportunity knocks at the business end of further education

Post-Leaving Certificate (PLC) level business courses are hugely popular with students, either as a route back into the CAO or as a means of starting a career journey in a business environment.

On average, one in every six applicants to the CAO seeking a college place in a level-eight higher degree lists a business degree programme as their first choice, second only in popularity to arts.

There is even greater demand at ordinary degrees and higher cert levels, where the number seeking a business qualification rises to one in three applicants.

A quick search on the national learners’ database Qualifax (qualifax.ie) identifies more than 200 CAO level-eight courses with business, commerce, accounting or marketing in their title.

Irish in London: ‘Nobody was making me stay. I could have left at any time and gone home to Sligo ... That was 24 years ago’

---

Anthony Boyle: ‘My dad had to go to Gaelic training, and the same British soldier would throw his kit in a puddle every day’

---

‘It’s an eye-opener’: The Irish medics training Ukrainian lawyers, vets and photographers to help the war effort

---

David McWilliams: A small town in Co Kerry and a formula for rejuvenating rural Ireland

---

It is clear from the range of business course options available at all levels and subject combinations that there is a wider choice of options in the area of business for prospective students of every level of academic ability than in any other area of study.

Starting your business award journey through a further education route

PLC level-five students in colleges such as Blackrock Further Education Institute regularly secure and accept offers of places through the early August round of CAO offers each year, in colleges such as UCD, DCU, Trinity, TUD etc, proving that further education (FE) can open up places on the most prestigious courses to students who may not have excelled across all their subjects in the Leaving Cert, but go on to secure high grades in their business PLC programmes.

Many universities have come to realise that students who may have secured good to average Leaving Cert results, but who excelled in business subjects, can — after completing a PLC programme in business — often outperform their high-CAO-points former peers when they progress into the prestigious business degree programme, through the FE-reserved places route.

If you are interested in seeking a place on one of the business degree programmes where the points may well exceed the 500-550 range, but where you may not expect to secure that level of CAO points, then explore the business programmes on offer from your local FE college.

The costs associated with these options are modest and are locally based, thus avoiding accommodation and maintenance expenses. The €200 charge for all PLC students introduced following the economic crash in 2012 has been abolished.

If you excel in your business PLC course, you could then consider progressing directly to a similar CAO programme.

A typical level-eight programme will be delivered in modules offering subjects such as accounting, economics, organisational behaviour, management theory, maths, statistics, and information and communications technology (ICT).

Many degree programmes such as business and management at TU Dublin offer a year on a work placement in companies operating in all the key business sectors, from financial services, pharmaceutical, retail and ICT to consultancy, or a year abroad in another university.

Where the degree programme includes a language, such as NUI Galway’s commerce (international with French), a year abroad will be spent in a French university, where lectures and other academic activities will take place in that language.

Some universities such as DCU have specific global business degree programmes, in partnership with universities in other countries — France (DC112), Germany (113), Spain (114), USA (116) and Canada (119) — where the country in which they will study for a year is selected by the student on their initial CAO application.

From a student’s perspective, the option to attend some of the top business schools in the world for a year, where their class-mates will have paid annual fees of $40,000-$50,000 (€37,000-€47,000), the €3,000 registration charge — or nothing in the case of those who secure Susi grant funding — is very attractive.

Specialised business degree programmes

There are many colleges that offer specialised business degree programmes. The Institute of Art, Design and Technology (IADT) in Dún Laoghaire, for example, offers level-eight degree courses in business management, entrepreneurship and digital marketing. Courses are 80 per cent continuous assessment and 20 per cent exam-based.

What makes these courses unique are the small class sizes, the individual attention students receive and the business experience of the teaching staff. In year three, there are opportunities to study abroad through the Erasmus programme. IADT has partnerships with universities in France, Italy, Spain, and Finland.

IADT also offers a master’s and postgraduate diploma in business in cultural events management at level nine, addressing the specific needs of the cultural and creative industries. The programme is aimed at those seeking employment as cultural events managers, working with an events management company, or being a freelance cultural entrepreneur or specialist manager within cultural industries. IADT has recently launched a dedicated level-nine business postgraduate programme that looks exclusively at equality, diversity, and inclusion in an organisational context.

The National College of Ireland was originally the College of Industrial Relations, and it continues to offer degrees specialising in the field of human and industrial relations, alongside accounting, finance and business degree programmes. Their business graduates will come to understand all the key functions within businesses such as human resource management.

What skills will business graduates acquire during their studies?

Business graduates at all levels will come to understand all the key functions within businesses such as marketing, accounting and finance, human resource management, ICT, etc.

They will also develop a set of generic skills that they can apply throughout their working lives in any career area. These will include: analytical ability, communication and presentation skills; goal-setting; leadership skills; numeracy; problem-solving; teamwork; and time management.

As students progress through their business programme, they may decide to focus on business management or management consultancy or opt to specialise in areas of accounting, economics, leadership practice, innovation and enterprise.

Advertising, public relations, retail management, sales, banking investment or financial services or marketing will also be options.

Where can I research my course options?

Third-level colleges and private business schools are all accessed through the CAO application process. Details of all courses are available on qualifax.ie.

Video and online profiles of those working in a wide range of business roles are freely available on the careers portal (careersportal.ie) website, which will show prospective students where their course may ultimately lead them.

How do I decide which courses to apply for?

Happily, unlike other areas such as science, there is no requirement for commerce/business applicants to have studied a business subject for the Leaving Cert, so this option is open to all Leaving Cert graduates.

Another positive factor is the fact that there are suitable courses for every applicant, from those who secured passes in five ordinary-level papers in the Leaving Cert to those who got 625 CAO points.

Adults who may not have ever sat the Leaving Cert can access business programmes at introductory levels and progress upwards to graduate and postgraduate levels over time.

The key is to know your own competencies — better to start at a level-six higher cert programme and progress up through the qualifications ladder than to attempt a level-eight course beyond your current level of competency and fall at the first fence.

Postgraduate options

The Master’s in Business Administration (MBA), along with more than 200 other level-nine master’s programmes, opens up the opportunity for business graduates and those from other disciplines who may pursue a business programme at the end of their undergraduate studies or in early to mid-career.

These programmes are highly regarded by employers and are particularly suited to those considering seeking management positions within their field of interest.

In many business master’s programmes, there is no requirement to have secured a level-eight degree in the area in question.

Graduates from a diverse range of disciplines — in the sciences, engineering, the arts and humanities to name but a few — have progressed their careers through a business postgraduate option.