Q: I WILL be retiring in June and would like to get involved in some area of education in the autumn. I have no strong interests but feel that an involvement in education would broaden my own outlook and help me to get the best from the years ahead. I've never been to third level and feel nervous that I would not be able to handle it straight away. Any suggestions?

Roscommon reader

A: THERE are lots of opportunities available for you. Perhaps you are wise to take your time and approach third level education at a more leisurely pace. Right across the country there are many types of interesting courses providing a huge choice of interest.

Just recently a new guide was published called Lifelong Learning A Guide To Educational Opportunities For Older People In Ireland. It's available at £2.50 from John Cullen, Age and Opportunity, St Joseph's Building, Marino Institute of Education, Griffith Avenue, Dublin 9 phone (01) 837 0570. It provides information on organisations, community education groups, distance education programmes, adult education programmes provided by VECs, secondary and third-level institutions and special education programmes for older people across the country.

You could contact the Roscommon County Active Age Groups (0903-26774 and 079-62005) or get some details on "the university of the third age (U3A)", a self-help group which decides the subject areas they wish to cover to suit themselves. Sometimes they have the necessary talent within the group and other times they commission teaching or tutorial time from local colleges or universities.

Aontas, the adult education association, produces a number of very useful publications and they can be contacted at (0) 475 4121. Your local library is also a very good source of information for courses.

Q: I HAVE a national cert in agriculture and I'd like to continue with my studies either here or in Britain. What exemptions would I get and what is my best option for course progression?

Kilkenny student

A: YOU could apply to UCD for exemption into the four-year degree course in agriculture. Usually if your results are at credit or distinction level you would be able to get into the second year of the course if space is available.

There are nine different options including animal/ environmental/food science, animal and crop production, agribusiness and rural development, engineering technology, forestry, and commercial/landscape horticulture.

Alternatively, you could apply to some British colleges, such as Sparsholt, which would accept you into the second year of its three-year national diploma course. Since this is the practical year, out working on a farm, you could get a training placement on a farm close to your home and combine it with a distance learning package of what is called "bridging studies."

You would then take your third and final year of the course at Sparsholt College where the programme includes sufficient management and business content for the Green Certificate. This is vital if you wish to go into practical farming yourself.

However, if you wish to continue with your studies, you then have the option of applying again to UCD to get into the third year of the degree programme or applying to other British colleges such as Writtle College, Chelmsford, where you can specialise in science or business management. Other colleges worth checking out include Harper Adams, Shropshire, which has options in animal science, land, farm or crop managementqi/gl alert31 and Seale-Hayne in Devon which is attached to the University of Plymouth and offers countryside management as well as general agriculture.

You also could approach Queen's, Belfast, where there are seven degree specialisations within the faculty of agriculture and food science and where there has long been a strong association with the regional colleges.

Scottish universities such as Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow have been taking Irish students over many years and have many attractive specialisations to offer.

Q: I'D like to work as a med lab technician. I've heard that two levels of course are available. What are they and where are they located? Do you need many points for the two types?

Carlow student

A: THERE are two levels of course for med lab but you must finish the three-year certificate level before you qualify for entry to the degree course. The certificate course is held in three colleges - DIT Kevin St, Cork RTC and Galway RTC. Two of these colleges provide follow-on degree courses of two further years with Cork RTC linked into NUI and DIT Kevin St linked to TCD.

The students from Galway RTC apply to either of the other two colleges on an equal basis as certificate students from the colleges themselves. Points for these course in 1996 were between 435 for Galway and 455 for Cork RTC. Both of the RTCs require passes in six subjects with two higher Cs and a pass in a science subject.

The DIT course again requires passes in six subjects to include English, Irish and maths and two higher Cs, one of which must be chemistry. There is generally a high demand for places on these courses which is reflected in the high points scores in the past number of years. In total there are about 60 places for the three colleges.

Med lab science is now often described as bio-medical sciences and job opportunities can be found in different types of laboratories such as hospital diagnostic, university research, veterinary, pharmaceutical, public health, virus reference, food industry as well as in research institutes. However, from this year on, the Department of Health will require a degree for those working in their laboratories so you must consider five years' study a must before you start on your course.

On the other hand the third year of your courses is spent on paid work experience so that will help the finances a little. It's also possible to do post-graduate work when you have finished your degree.