Alternative routes to access third-level education

This time of year, when the Leaving Certificate results are released, can be stressful, with students feeling like everything depends on this one set of exams.

However, most colleges have alternative admission routes that are not based solely on an accumulation of CAO points. While exam results are important, there are often programmes in place in universities and colleges to assist those from typically underrepresented backgrounds to gain entry to university.

The following is a selection of some of the programmes available to prospective students in Ireland.

National University of Ireland, Galway

National University of Ireland, Galway (NUI Galway), offers a one-year access course that can be completed either full time or part time. The programme aims to provide students with the opportunity to prepare personally and academically for an undergraduate course of full-time study for at least three years.

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The course is designed to meet the learning needs of an adult student and to provide individual attention and assistance where appropriate, according to the university. This scheme facilitates prospective students who have been resident for a year or more in the border midlands and western region and Co Clare.

Applicants are assessed according to their socio-economic status, and they must supply evidence of a full year’s household income for the previous calendar year with their application.

The course content consists of two supporting elements: core subjects and academic options. Core subjects include study skills, applied writing, information technology and educational guidance, while also four academic options from a range of fields of study, including philosophy, sociology, mathematics, physics and economics/accountancy.

Participants who successfully complete the access course will receive a diploma in foundation studies and will then be eligible for direct entry, via the CAO, to full-time university degree courses. Web: nuigalway.ie/access/

Dublin City University

The Dublin City University (DCU) Access Service helps students from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds to gain direct entry to DCU through the higher education access route (Hear) and the access DCU entry route (Ader).

Students must be under the age of 23 and have completed their Leaving Certificate to be eligible.

There are also a combination of financial, social and cultural indicators that are evaluated by the university to determine a students’ eligibility.

Applications for the Hear programme are done through the CAO, while Ader opens for applications in April.

Under the AderDER scheme, there are reduced-points places at university and on-campus subsidised accommodation scholarships.

Once students enter DCU through Hear or Ader, they are provided with a comprehensive suite of supports to help them settle into and progress through university. These supports include financial, academic, personal and professional.

The university said its access programme is the longest-running and largest one in Ireland, supporting more than 4,000 students since its establishment in 1990.

Today, more than 1,200 access scholars are studying at undergraduate and postgraduate level across the university, with 10 per cent of places at reduced-point entry on all undergraduate courses being allocated to students on the schemes. Web: dcu.ie/access

Trinity College Dublin

The Trinity access programmes (Tap) provide a range of alternative entry routes into undergraduate programmes, including the university’s foundation programme, and the Trinity-City of Dublin education and training board partnership.

Tap offers young adults and mature students a full-time, year-long foundation course for higher education. The course provides another way into Trinity for those whose social, economic and cultural experiences have prevented them from going to college.

To be eligible, young adults must have attended a second-level school in Dublin which has Deis status or is linked to an access service, meet the same socio-economic criteria as set out for Hear, and be 21 years of age or under on January 1st in the year of application.

For mature students, applicants must be 23 years or older, be a resident in Ireland from an underrepresented socio-economic background, be eligible for the Government free-fee scheme and have a desire and ability to pursue full-time third-level education.

One place is reserved each year for an applicant from the Traveller community who meets the above criteria and who scores 25 or over at interview, while another place is reserved each year for an applicant who is in the care of the State or who was once in the care of the State, and who meets the course criteria.

Overall, there are 50 places annually, comprised of 25 mature students and 25 young adults. A further 75 places are available across the partnership courses in CDETBs colleges: Pearse, Plunket and Liberties College. Web: tcd.ie/trinityaccess

University College Dublin

In University College Dublin (UCD), the access courses are one year, part-time courses designed to prepare adults who do not have formal qualifications for successful study at university.

The courses are level-six, special-purpose awards to equip mature students with the skills and confidence to take the next step towards university.

The programme is designed for people who do not meet existing entry requirements to university, as well as those who have already qualified for university but who are not ready to commit just yet.

There are no formal educational requirements, with applicants being permitted to apply using prior educational qualifications or life experience.

There are two different courses of study under the programme: access to arts, humanities, social sciences and law; and access to science, engineering, agricultural science and medicine (Seam).

There is a cost of €850 to undertake the arts and humanities course, while the Seam course costs €1,800 for the year. However, there are scholarships available that could reduce the cost of these courses, or result in no fee for entrants.

On completion of the access course, chances of being accepted to a university degree are high, UCD said, though participants will need to achieve the required grade point average (GPA) in assessment to be guaranteed entry. Web: ucd.ie

University College Cork

While University College Cork (UCC) doesn’t have a foundation access programme like some of the other universities, it does allow individuals to access its third-level courses through the Hear and Dare schemes, as well as through the QQI route.

The university said it decided that the further education route offers a larger number of students the opportunity to use further education as a stepping stone to higher education. Students are eligible to get a Susi grant while in further education and the fees are minimal, if any, its spokeswoman said.

Further education also offers a student the opportunity to study their area of interest for a year before committing to a full degree; ie studying business and legal studies before committing to a law degree or studying applied laboratory techniques before committing to a 4-year biochemistry degree.

There are several large further education colleges in Cork city and county and the wider Munster region, so we encourage students to undertake a QQI course at PLC level, and then use their level 5 or 6 qualification to gain entry to a level 8 programme in UCC, said the university spokeswoman.

The university has also developed a dedicated programme with the Cork Education and Training Board, where an access staff member works with further education students from Deis backgrounds to support them on their course and through the transition into higher education. Web: ucc.ie

University of Limerick

University of Limerick’s (UL) access to university course is a full-time 13-week pre-entry course that leads to a place on your chosen undergraduate programme in the university.

Specifically for students from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds, the course runs from January to June, with the aim of preparing students to succeed academically, personally and socially at third level.

To be eligible, students must be under the age of 23 on January 1st in the calendar year of proposed entry, and students must not be currently studying at a university or institute of technology.

Applicants using their Leaving Certificate results must meet the university minimum subject requirements and undergraduate subject-specific requirements to be considered.

The course has a range of modules including informatics, transition to university, personal development, study skills, logical problem-solving, life skills, and a module from the chosen degree they would like to pursue in the autumn.

This course requires students to be able to attend class Monday to Friday from 9am to 6pm.

Attendance is compulsory, and students must pass the course to attain their pre-agreed position in September. Web: ulsites.ul.ie/access/

Maynooth University

The Maynooth University access programme, known as Map, encourages underrepresented groups to enter third-level education.

These groups include underrepresented school leavers, mature students, students with disabilities and members of the Irish Traveller community.

In the 2020-2021 academic year, almost a quarter of undergraduate students at Maynooth University came from the target underrepresented groups.

Set up in 1998, Map provides an annual programme of outreach activities aimed at schools, parents and communities who face the greatest barriers to participation in higher education.

Initiatives include campus and school visits, open days, programmes and camps relating to Stem, a shadowing programme that offers a day-in-the-life experience, the maths support centre second-level drop-in service and college awareness week.

Map also provides ongoing academic, financial and personal post-entry supports to Maynooth University students from the target equity groups, many of which have been made widely available to support the academic achievement of all students, including the mathematics support centre, the student budgeting advisory service and the student laptop loan scheme. Web: maynoothuniversity.ie/access-office