Everything you need to know about Ireland’s institutes of technology

IADT

When is open day?

November 24th (10am-4pm)

November 25th (10am-4pm)

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Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology is a renowned centre of creativity, including in animation, design, TV and film production, computing and media. It prides itself on creating graduates who are thinkers as well as doers, and there is a strong focus on entrepreneurship.

The only undergraduate degree of its kind in Ireland, Arts Management is a multidisciplinary course that brings together business, public relations and event management with the study of arts administration, the music industry and cultural policy. Graduates are employed in areas including music management, festival and event management, theatre management and marketing. Recent graduates have been employed by  Madison Square Garden, New York, the Wicklow Arts Festival, RTÉ and Sony.

IADT also offers a business studies, entrepreneurship and management degree, which is very practical, with students learning how to identify and take business opportunities by combining knowledge, skills and competencies, through setting up a market stall in first year, followed by an online business in second year, as a core part of their assessment.

More information: iadt.ie.

CIT (Cork Institute of Technology)

Web: cit.ie/openday

Open days: Bishopstown Campus: Friday, November 16th, 2018, 10am -3pm; Crawford College of Art and Design: Friday November 16th, 2018, 10am to 4pm; Saturday, November 17th, 2018, 10am to 3pm; CIT Cork School of Music: Saturday, November 17th, 2018, 10am to 3pm; National Maritime College of Ireland: Thursday, November 8th, 2018.

Life on campus: Though spread across four campuses, Bishopstown is the IT's main hub of life for its 14,000 students. It's where the student centre is based, along with shops, restaurants, sports facilities and a bank. Sport is integral to CIT and there are more than 40 clubs, ranging from martial arts to water sports to the great outdoors. Its facilities are among the best in Ireland, with a 1,200-seater multi-purpose stadium, fully equipped gym and weights room, playing pitches, an international athletics track and a full-size AstroTurf pitch. There's also a great variety of societies from anime to mental health and music.

Strengths: There are 79 CAO options for entry in 2019, with courses ranging from art and design, business, engineering, humanities, science, informatics, music and maritime studies. Findings from the First Destination Survey for 2017 Graduates found that more than 96 per cent of respondents were either due to start work, in employment, or undertaking further study at the time of surveying.

Accommodation: There is no on-campus accommodation but there are several private, purpose-built student accommodation centres near the college.

Don't miss: The careers exhibition and a series of information sessions, workshops, demonstrations and laboratory visits.

WIT (Waterford Institute of Technology)

Web: wit.ie/future_students/school_leavers/cao_information_events

Open days: Friday, November 23rd and Saturday, November 24th, 2018, 9am-2pm; Friday, March 29th, 2019, 5.30pm-7.30pm, and Saturday March 30th, 2019, 9am-2pm.

Life on campus: WIT is spread across five campuses in the city, with most of its 8,000 students located on the Cork Road Campus. WIT boasts top-class sporting amenities, with the WIT Arena located 2km from the main campus, and has more than 50 acres of facilities. There are more than 30 sports clubs including GAA, athletics, soccer, basketball and rugby along with more than 30 societies including drone racing, photography, dance and architecture. The city, located 20 minutes away, offers nightlife, theatre, art, music and shopping.

Strengths: Prospective CAO applicants have 70 courses to choose from across a range of disciplines including business, engineering and architecture, sports and nursing, law, social sciences, arts and psychology, the creative and performing arts, languages, tourism and hospitality, science and computing. There is also a heavy emphasis on supporting students with a peer-mentoring programme and a 'broadening your third-level experience' initiative in place.

Accommodation: Aside from WIT campus student accommodation, students tend to live in shared houses and apartments in nearby areas and closer to the city centre. Digs accommodation is also on offer.

What's new: WIT has new broad entry courses in engineering, health science, exercise science, computing and science. This format gives students who know what discipline they are suited to some extra time to choose the right speciality.

Don't miss: Presentations on all CAO courses, accommodation, scholarships available and fees and grants, as well as the opportunity to talk to lecturers directly.

DIT (Dublin Institute of Technology)

Web: dit.ie/openday/

Open days: Dublin School of Creative Arts, DIT Grangegorman: Thursday, November 22nd, 2018; DIT Aungier Street: Friday, November 30th and Saturday, December 1st, 2018.

Life on campus: Spread over six campuses around Dublin city and well-connected via the recent extension of the Luas line, there's plenty to keep DIT's 20,000 students busy both on and off campus. There are more than 120 student-led societies and sports clubs, with something for everyone, including the arts, fashion, photography and music. Sport is hugely important and students benefit from excellent facilities at the Kevin Street and Grangegorman campuses and a new all-weather pitch at its sports centre in Broombridge.

Strengths: DIT is well-known for its education in the culinary arts and some of the country's best chefs, including Darina Allen and Richard Corrigan, receiving their training at the Cathal Brugha Street campus. DIT is also home to Ireland's national optometry centre, which is a purpose-built centre for the advanced training of optometry students and is the only such facility of its kind in the country. DIT also offers the only building engineering programme in the country.

Accommodation: While there is no on-campus accommodation, DIT works with private providers to help students access secure, quality accommodation and block-books 320-bed spaces for students across the city. It also facilitates a 'host family' database service.

What's new: DIT, Institute of Technology Blanchardstown and Institute of Technology Tallaght are set to become Ireland's first technological university – TU Dublin – in January 2019. New courses expected to begin next year include a BA (Hons) in law with a language and a BSc (Hons) physics with data science.

Don't miss: The sessions on study skills, minding your mental health and information for parents.

GMIT (Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology)

Web: gmit.ieOpen days: GMIT Dublin Road: Saturday, October 13th, 2018, 10am -1pm; Saturday, March 30th, 2019, 10am-1pm; Centre for the Creative Arts & Media: Thursday, October 18th, 2018, 10am-3pm; Tuesday, January 22nd, 2019, 10am-3pm.

GMIT Mayo: Tuesday, November 6th, 2018, 10am-1pm; Wednesday May 8th, 2019, 2pm - 5pm; CAO & Lifelong Learning Open Evening: Thursday, January 17th, 2019, 7pm- 9pm.

GMIT Letterfrack: Friday, November 23rd, 2018, 11am-2pm; Friday, January, 25th, 2019, 11am-2pm; Saturday, April 13th, 2019, 11am-2pm.

GMIT Mountbellew: Wednesday, October 10th, 2018, 9.30am-3pm.

Life on campus: Spread across five campuses in Galway and Mayo, the institute offers more than 130 courses (100 CAO courses) at undergraduate and postgraduate level in a wide range of disciplines, including business, engineering, furniture, hospitality and tourism, humanities, nursing and social care, science and computing, and outdoor education. The students' union runs more than 80 clubs and societies for its 6,700 students with an eclectic mix of politics, swing dance, robotics, GAA and the living-history society.

Strengths: GMIT offers a range of unique and diverse courses such as its furniture specialisms (design, technology and teacher education), outdoor education and agri-engineering.

Accommodation: GMIT does not offer student accommodation but there are a number of purpose-built student villages near the Galway and Mayo campuses.

What's new: An extension to the GMIT innovation hub will begin later this year and when completed will be one of the largest regional third-level innovation centres, while a design team has been appointed to begin work on the institute's new STEM (science ,technology, engineering, and maths) building.

Don't miss: Career Clinic sessions incorporating psychometric testing and feedback on course choices regarding students' suitability for certain programmes.

IT Sligo

Web:

[ itsligo.ie ]

Open day: Thursday, October 18th, 2018, 10am-2pm.

IT Sligo offers a diverse range of courses to match job-market needs in business and social science, engineering and design, and science and is one of Ireland’s largest third-level suppliers of online courses. Students learn from industry-experienced lecturers in small classes with high-spec student facilities and research laboratories.

IT Blanchardstown

Web: itb.ie

Open day: Wednesday, November 14th, 2018, 10am-12.30pm and 5pm-7pm.

ITB offers a wide variety of full-time courses including applied social studies, business, computing, creative digital media, engineering, horticulture, social and community development, sports management and coaching and early childhood care and education.

Letterkenny IT

Web: lyit.ie

Open day: Thursday, November 22nd, 2018, 9.30am-3pm.

LYIT offers degree courses in areas such as business, law, design, computing, tourism, engineering, nursing and science. There will be lots going on at its open day – including demonstrations, talks and tours.

Limerick IT

Web: lit.ie/default.aspxOpen days: Moylish and Clare Street campuses, Limerick: Thursday, October 18th and Friday, October 19th, 2018.

Limerick IT has five campuses including Limerick city, Thurles and Clonmel in Co Tipperary and a regional learning centre in Ennis, Co Clare. The main campus is located at Moylish Park, adjacent to Thomond Park. LIT offers courses at level 6 (certificate) through level 10 (PhD).

LIT Thurles

Web: cao.lit.ie

Open day: Saturday, November 24th, 2018.

Spread across five campuses in Limerick and Tipperary, LIT offers more than 90 CAO entry programmes in art and design, engineering, technology, science, business, and humanities. It has close links to a broad range of industries, with 80 per cent of graduates going directly into paid employment. Students joining LIT in September 2019 will be the first cohort to avail of LIT's new engineering-focused campus at Coonagh.

Tralee IT

Web: ittralee.ie

Open days: Friday, October 26th, 2018, 9.30am-1.30pm; Saturday, April 6th, 2019, 11am to 2pm.

Tralee IT offers a range of courses across its schools of business, computing and humanities, science, technology, engineering and mathematics and health and social sciences. All going well, 2019 will see IT Tralee and CIT merge to form a technological university.

Athlone IT

Web: ait.ie

Open days: Friday, October 19th, 2018, 10am-2pm; Saturday, October 20th, 2018, 10am-1pm.

Athlone IT offers courses across 13 areas, including hospitality and tourism, nursing, computing, business, and graphic design.

IT Tallaght

Web: it-tallaght.ie

Open day: Friday, November 9th, 2018, 10am-3pm.

Internships and work placements are a key focus for the college, which offers computing, engineering, accountancy, marketing, science, hospitality and social-care courses.

IT Carlow

Web: itcarlow.ie

Open days: Carlow Campus: Thursday, November 15th, 2018; Wexford Campus: Thursday, November 22nd, 2018.

IT Carlow offers degree programmes across a range of areas including business, sport, media and marketing, humanities, science and health. The IT also offers a range of tech and computer-related programmes, including a bachelor of science degree in computer games development.

DKIT (Dundalk Institute of Technology)

Web: dkit.ie

Open days: Friday 9th November 2018 10am – 3pm, Saturday 10th November 2018 10am – 1pm, Saturday 19th January 2019 10am – 1pm.

DKIT offers degree programmes across a diverse range of areas from Social Care to Accounting and Finance. It also offers higher certificates in Arts in Culinary Arts , Front Office Management and Business Administration.