Some 250 colleges from Ireland and Britain are participating in the 12th Higher Options careers conference which opens in the RDS today. Organised by The Irish Times and the Institute of Guidance Counsellors, the conference will be opened officially by the Minister for Education and Science, Mr Martin, at lunchtime.
All the Irish universities, the DIT, institutes of technology, colleges of education, colleges of art and design, some private third-level colleges and a number of post-Leaving Cert colleges are attending to explain the choices and opportunities available to next year's school-leavers.
The Central Applications Office (CAO) and its British equivalent, UCAS, will be there, as well as organisations such as Teagasc, the National Council for Educational Awards, the National Council for Vocational Awards and the UK Courses Information Services.
Aer Lingus, Forfas, the Irish Hotels Federation, CERT, the Garda Siochana, the Defence Forces and FAS are also participating.
Some 25,000 sixth-year students will attend Higher Options over the next three days. A limited number of tickets (price £5) are available at the RDS each day.