Advice & Resources - LetsLearnDLR

Advice & Resources It can often feel like there's a lot you have to know when thinking about your learning options! But don't worry, there's lots of helpful tools and resources available In the section below, we explain what progressing means when moving through education and how it works, and further down the page there are links to helpful articles!

What does Progressing mean?

As a Student studying a Level 5 or 6 course in a College of Further Education, you have the option of progressing your studies. This means that you could very easily graduate with a degree……. by taking one 'educational' step at a time!
The ladder system of progression is where add-on qualifications are used to build up from a level 5/ 6 all the way onto Level 8 honours degree and further!

Here is how:

If you are studying Level 5/6, you complete this first qualification before applying to continue on to the next, higher, qualification.

A large number of courses in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) e.g. ITs, reserve places for applicants presenting QQI Level 5/6 Awards. Such applicants compete for these places separately from all other applicants.

Application for Higher Education courses are made through the CAO and applicants are ranked based on their performance in the eight modules that make up the QQI award that they are comp.

If you have a specific college in mind and specific courses, it might be no harm speaking to the admissions office of that college to get the full picture on how they accept progression students.

A list of courses that are linked to a particular progression route can usually be found on the website of the PLC/ College of Further Education you are going to or the IT/University you hope to go to.

Check out the tools below to find out course that are available to students who want to progress

Useful Tools & Articles for your learning journey

Careers Portal - Progression Routes

Use this tool to find CAO courses that are available to students with a Further Education (PLC) award. Select the QQI Award code for a course you are interested in and use the other filters to focus your research.

Click here>>>

Careers Portal - FETAC Links

Use this tool to search for courses with SPECIFIC links using your QQI/FETAC Award code. You can also search for courses with NON-SPECIFIC links by Career Sector (which lists CAO courses that accept Any Full QQI Award)

Click here>>>

Qualifax

Provides a lot of information about further and higher education and training options in Ireland and further afield.

Click here>>>

Apprenticeships Explained

An apprenticeship is the recognised way people train in a craft trade or profession.

Click here>>>

Alternatives to the CAO

With all the talk of CAO and applying to university, it can be easy to forget that there are other routes to your chosen career.

Click here>>>

Returning to College

If you think education is right for you now, this article takes you through some of the steps or options you might want to consider if you are thinking about returning to college.

Click here>>>

Supports when going to college with a disability

If you are a student with a disability, it is important to know that there are several supports and programmes available, to help you achieve your educational goals at college or university.

Click here>>>

Financial Supports for Students

Going to college can be expensive – there are fees, laptop, equipment, travel, accommodation to consider – however, there are a range of schemes to help you with the cost.

Click here>>>

Mental Health supports for college students

There are a range of organisations across Ireland to help support the mental health of young people, and this article explains them. You can also visit LetsTalkDLR for information on local services in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown.

Click here>>>

Back to Education Schemes

There are a number of schemes available for people who wish to return to education if they are long term unemployed. Your eligibility for these schemes depends on your situation, and the level of education you have already reached.

Click here>>>

The Student Perspective

A great podcast which shares the perspective of students as they go about their learning journey.

Click here>>>

All the Levels Explained:

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