THE high standards expected from applicants to third level art colleges has resulted in an increased demand for PLC art & design courses.

Sine ad Walsh, an art tutor at Colaiste Ide Senior College in Finglas, Dublin, says that more and more students are setting a year aside to do a PLC course and prepare for third level art college.

"The standard [at third level art colleges] has gone up so much that if you don't have the standard you won't get in," she explains. Students today are "very mature and very determined," she says. This echoes the views of many teachers involved in PLC art & design courses.

The course philosophy at Colaiste Ide Senior is to help the students develop not just technically but creatively also, so that in the end "that they would see themselves as artists". Apart from portfolio preparation. the students are prepared for interviews as well as studying the various sections of art and design. The number of students doing the course has tripled over the past five years.

According to Fred Meaney, the vice-principal of Senior College Sallynoggin, Dublin, students mature during this extra year. He also explains that "a lot of students don't have the time during their Leaving Cert to put together a portfolio of a high standard."

A high percentage of graduates from art & design PLC courses do succeed in gaining entry to third level. About 95 per cent of graduates, from Senior College Sallynoggin succeed in getting places at one of the country's third level art colleges. Approximately 40 students complete the course at the college each year. The students are divided into two separate groups.

This well-established course, which was set up about eight years ago, is like many of the art & design courses available at PLC colleges today. It is a foundation course which concentrates on portfolio preparation.

The school also has an art craft & design course, which grew out of the art & design course. There is a greater emphasis in this course on Three Dimensional work. The students study ceramics metalcraft, print and the 3D special effects for make-up and model making. Both courses are full, Fred Meaney points out.

In all of the PLC courses, which are NCVA recognised, there has to be a minimum of eight modules. Any one who reaches the required standard in these modules will receive an award at National Certificate Level Two. The one year intensive course in art & design at Limerick Senior College covers eight modules which include drawing, print-making, graphic design, 3D studies, communications, animation, painting, ceramics, textile design, photography and an introduction to computer graphics.

John Riordan, principal of the Central Technical Institute in Waterford, says that many of the students who begin the plc courses, including the art, craft and design course, initially regard themselves as failures: "A lot of the ones coming in September, come because they failed to get their first choice going into third level."

"A major part of our job is to re-orientate them, to show them that what they are doing is worthwhile. Once they realise that, they pull out all the stops." An important part of what the college does, he says, is to try and overcome the negative aspects of the points race.

Dundrum College runs a one-year art & design course, which includes weekend art field trips to places of historical and cultural interest. It also has a craft, design and technology course which sets out to equip students with the knowledge and skills to carry out a range of practical "design and make" projects within a manufacturing framework.

The course is supported by studies in 2D draughting, drawing, textiles, history of design, communications and marketing/business development. Here students are encouraged to develop ideas and strategies for self-employment.

There are four courses in art & design at Ballyfermot Senior College in Dublin. About 150 students are currently studying on these courses. In each course there is a speciality the choosing of which reflects the interest of the student as Eamonn Kerrigan of Ballyfermot Senior College points out

The art & design course for students at Colaiste Dhulaigh has an emphasis on the preparation of a balanced portfolio which shows the student's individual sense of colour design pattern and so forth using a wide variety of media.