The College Experience

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Belvedere College SJ

CAO Information Evening Wednesday 5th December
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National Framework of Qualifications

• Level 9 /10 Masters/ PhD
• Level 8 Honours Degree
• Level 7 Ordinary Degree
• Level 6 Higher Certificate
• Level 5 Leaving Certificate/PLC
• Level 3 Junior Certificate

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Qualifications
Pass L.C
4/5 Hons
2/3 Honours

Higher Certificate (Level 6)
PLC
Honours Degree (Level 8)
Ordinary Degree (Level 7)
Employment
Honors Degree (Level 8)
Masters
PhD
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• Sources of Information
• CAO Handbook
• Guidance Counsellors/Teachers
• www.cao.ie
• www.qualifax.ie
• www.careersportal.ie
• www.accesscollege.ie
• www.ucas.com
• Open days - College visits
• Current students / graduates

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CAO TIMETABLE 2013 ENTRY

• 20th January, 2013 5.15pm
• Closing date for receipt of early online
  application
• 1st February, 2013 5.15pm
• Closing date for receipt of normal application
• 1st May, 2013
• Closing date for receipt of late applications
• From May 5th, 2013
• Change of mind facility becomes available .
• 1st July, 2013
• Latest date for receipt of change of mind form in
  CAO.
• Late August (19th), 2013
• First round of offers will commence.

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Level 8 Level 8 Level 6/7 Level 6/7
Pref Course Code Pref Course Code
1 CK101 1 BN003
2 DC201 2 TA102
3 AL033 3 TA101
4 DN021 4 NC101
5 TR084 5 TA108
6 DC115 6 DT315
7 DT366 7 DT521
8 BN101 8
9 DT413 9
10 PD101 10
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So what is the best way to fill in the courses?
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Dream Courses (genuine order of preference)
Safety Net Courses
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How Places are Allocated

• When examination results are released in August
  they are entered into the CAO computer.
• The computer checks each applicants results. For
  each course the applicant has applied for, the
  computer first determines if the applicant has
  the minimum entry requirements for the course.

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How Places are Allocated

• If the applicant meets the minimum entry
  requirements for the course, the applicants
  points are calculated for this course choice.
• All eligible applicants are then placed in a
  list, in order of the points they achieved, for
  each course that they applied for.

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How Places are Allocated

• The colleges then tell CAO how many places are to
  be offered on each course
• CAO then makes offers to the required number of
  applicants on each course starting with the
  applicant with the highest points and working
  down until enough places have been offered.

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These are the applicants for CK101 (Arts in UCC)
The examination results have not yet been
released, so these applicants are in no
particular order. We are going to trace the
progress of the applicant marked in red.
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Applicants are placed in a queue for each course
they applied for, their position in the queue is
determined by their points. The applicant with
the highest points is placed at the top of the
queue. The points achieved by the applicant in
red determines her position in the queue for each
course she applied to.
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The applicants marked in green have enough points
to be offered places. The applicant marked in
red has enough points for her second preference.
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The applicant in red is offered her second
preference, the highest preference course that
she has enough points for, and she will now
disappear from the queue in all her lower choices.
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• Normally given 10 days to accept the offer but
  very important to check the deadline date given
  with the offer.
• If offered Level 8 and Level 6/7 offer, accepting
  one automatically rejects the other.
• You may never receive another offer from the CAO
  so think very carefully before rejecting the
  offer.
• Accepting or rejecting an offer will have no
  effect on your higher course choices.

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In the Second round of offers three more offers
are made on CK101 and our applicant, who was
second in line, now receives an offer. She may
do nothing and remain in DN201 or she may accept
the offer and begin in CK101.
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• You do not need to guess what the points are
  going to be for the courses you are interested
  in.
• Simply list your courses in genuine order of
  preference from the highest preference 1, to the
  lowest preference 10.
• If you are entitled to an offer, you will be
  offered the highest preference that you are
  entitled to.

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1. Common Errors made when selecting courses
2. Retention Rates in College
3. Dos / Donts of CAO Applications
4. PLC/CFE Courses (Post Leaving Certificate Courses)

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Errors made when selecting courses

• Not enough research into courses
• examples of good research include
• cao.ie / college literature / open days /
  qualifax.ie / guidance counsellor
• listing courses in order of points instead of
  genuine preference
• underestimating / overestimating Leaving
  Certificate results

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Errors made when selecting courses

• targeting low point courses in hope of getting
  College place
• not considering courses outside certain
  geographic areas
• targeting Level 8 courses only and ignoring Level
  7 6 courses thereby Ladder of Opportunity

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Retention Rate in College

• Non Completion of Courses
• Statistics
• Universities 17
• Colleges of Technology 37

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Retention Rate in College

• Reasons for these
  figures
• Lack of preparation - insufficient research into
  course choice
• Hurried choice leaving CAO to last minute
• Poor choice of course

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Retention Rate in College

• Challenge of Third Level
• Large classes - especially in Universities
• No personal contact with lecturers
• Lots of free time independent learning
• No model answers

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Dos / Donts of CAOApplications

• Do choose ten options if at all possible
• Do list courses in order of genuine preference
• Do make sure to have other options if you do not
  get your preferences e.g. PLC course
• Do check Alert Lists on CAO website 195 courses
  cancelled and 95 new courses introduced last
  year.

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Dos / Donts continued

• Do not depend totally on getting the 1st, 2nd or
  3rd choice
• You may be offered your 4th / 5th / 6th / 7th /
  8th / 9th / 10th choice
• Be prepared for this and choose wisely!
• Do not ignore the Level 6/7 route
• Do not target only low point courses in hope of
  getting to College

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PLC/CFE Courses Post Leaving Certificate Courses

• Good, recognised qualification
• Also may allow students to go onto Degree courses
  in colleges based on their performance.
• Should apply from January 2013 directly to the PLC

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Post Leaving Certificate Courses

• Large variety of courses
• Business
• Art/Design
• Multimedia
• Beauty Therapy
• Insurance/Banking
• Travel/Tourism
• Social Care
• Science
• Law

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• Important Websites
• www.careersportal.ie
• www.qualifax.ie
• www.cao.ie
• www.studentfinance.ie
• Hear (Higher Education Access Route)
• Dare (Disability Access Route to Education)

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Important Websites
1. www.careersportal.ie

• Careers Exploration
• Information on CAO process, new CAO
• courses 2013, points calculator etc.
• Info for Parents and Guardians

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Important Websites
2. www.qualifax.ie

• Student information
• Info for Parents/Guardians
• Interest assessments
• Search for a course

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• Choosing a career
• Course finder
• Dare and Hear

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Important Websites
3. www.cao.ie
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CAO handbook
NB. Online application fee is 25 if you apply
before 20th January After 17.15 on that
date, the fee goes up to 40.
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Course search on CAO.ie
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Restricted courses Tests and interviews
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• To Note
• My Application
• Interactive demo facility
• Alert Lists
• Proceed with Application

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4. www.studentfinance.ie

• Covers all aspects of 3rd level finance
• Course fees
• Grants
• Disability funding

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Equity of Access to the HEIs

• HEAR
• The Higher Education Access Route is the third
  level admissions scheme for school leavers from
  socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds
  which also operates on a reduced points basis.

• DARE
• The Disability Access Route to Education is a
  supplementary admissions scheme for school
  leavers with disabilities which operates on a
  reduced points basis.

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DARE Who is it for?

• School leavers who have the ability to benefit
  from and succeed in higher education but who may
  not be able to meet the points for their
  preferred course due to the impact of the
  disability.
• Applicants who meet the subject and minimum entry
  requirements of the institutions to which they
  apply.

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DARE eligible disabilities

• Mental Health Condition
• Neurological Conditions (incl. Brain injury,
  speech and language)
• On-going Medical Condition
• Physical Disability
• Other Disabilities

• Aspergers Syndrome/Autism
• ADD/ADHD
• Blind/Vision impaired
• Deaf/Hearing impaired
• Dyspraxia
• Specific Learning Difficulty (incl. Dyslexia)

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DARE participating HEIs

• See www.cao.ie

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DARE how to apply

• Apply as part of the CAO application tick the
  appropriate box on the application form by 1
  February 2012.
• Applicants will then be directed to a separate
  online application from which will ask them to
  provide additional information about their
  disability or SLD.
• Applicants must support their application with
  evidence from an appropriate medical consultant
  www.accesscollege.ie - must be submitted by 1
  April. A report from an educational psychologist
  must be less that three years old i.e. must be
  dated after 1st February 2009.

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Disability non-DARE

• Students with a disability and/or Specific
  Learning Difficulty but who are applying to HEIs
  other than those participating in the DARE scheme
  are still encouraged to tick the relevant box on
  their application form for, although they will
  not benefit from the reduced points, the HEI they
  are applying to will be forewarned to put in
  place any extra supports needed by the student
  for their disability.

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HEAR who is it for?

• School leavers who have the ability to benefit
  from and succeed in higher education and who come
  from socio-economic groups in Irish society that
  are under-represented in third level.
• Students who also meet the minimum entry
  requirements and subject requirements of the HEIs
  their applying to.

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HEAR Post-Entry Support

• An orientation programme to introduce students to
  university/college.
• Extra tuition if required, study skills, exam
  preparation.
• One-to-one meetings with student advisors, social
  gatherings, mentoring.
• A bursary when available, advice regarding grants
  and scholarships.

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HEAR participating HEIs

• See www.cao.ie

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HEAR application procedure

• Apply online at www.cao.ie as part of the CAO
  application process by Feb 1st 2013.
• Indicate their wish to be considered for HEAR in
  the appropriate section of the application form
  by Feb 1.
• Applicant will then be directed to a separate
  online HEAR application form.
• Complete a number of additional questions
  relating to his/her familys financial
  situation employment status of parents
  school(s) attended.
• Submit supporting documentation (e.g. P21, Notice
  of Assessment etc.) by 1 April 2013.
• Applications for HEAR can only be made online.

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Thank you for your attention