Irish Kids GCSE UK, how to get into ROI UNIVERSITY

[SlieveMiskish]

Hi all, my husband and I went to UCC and we have a home and family there.. We would like our children to learn to love their home city by the Lee. Has anyone educated their children in UK got them into the courses they wanted in ROI? I’m wondering should they be homeschooled for 5th and 6 th year and do the leaving certificate online, via Bruce College, or go do A LEVELS here in UK. Any advice or experience would be deeply appreciated.

I don't know the answer but this may be helpful

https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/returning-to-ireland/education-and-schooling/getting-your-foreign-qualification-recognised-in-ireland/#startcontent

This may be more helpful as it's about NI/UK

https://www.tcd.ie/academicregistry/fees-and-payments/brexit/

CAO is the Irish UCAS equivalent and they have all the instructions. Leaving cert would be challenging remotely as the Leaving cert is changing dramatically starting this year.

https://www.cao.ie/index.php?page=gce_applicant_information&bb=studentresources

Leaving cert changes
Leaving Certificate https://share.google/KCtStIHNA9iGuJc9k

if they are in the UK then just have them do their a-levels - they need 4 levels to get max points but 3 might be ok depending on the points needed for the course. The leaving cert is much broader subject wise, personally I’d rather concentrate on my stronger subjects.

Ok thank you for the advice..

Goodness A LEVELS ARE LEVEL 3 and leaving cert is level 4 and 5?? https://www.qqi.ie/sites/default/files/2023-08/Qualifications%20Can%20Cross%20Boundaries-Aug-2023_0.pdf

How old are you kids?

That is not correct. Level 3 is a UK level based system and the Level 4-5 for the LC is on the Irish National Framework. A levels are considered for entry to Irish university.

For many courses year 1 at Irish uni matches to A level but you will still go to year 1 just with an advantage from A levels.

He’s 13 in year 9 and she’s 14 in year 10, so she has GCSE next year and then decisions to be made..

If you look to the next table below, the table shows that English level 3 and Irish level 5 are equivalent.

Respectfully, do your children want to go to UCC? Or MTU, for that matter? Does either offer degrees they want to do?

You need to read the second page to get the equivalents. The levels are not equal. Level 10 in Ireland is the equivalent of level 8 in the UK for instance.

I did A levels in the UK in 2003 and was offered a place at TCD. (My mum had done the same in 1965.) My younger sister is currently doing the same. There's no issue with it being A levels, lots of kids from the UK go there.

People from all over the world go to uni in Ireland. They don't need to do the leaving cert (and no doubt would do worse with online lessons vs A-Levels in person).

However, when I was applying to uni I noticed it would have really disadvantaged me for Irish unis had I dropped down to three A-Levels from four (as most people did in the second year of sixth form) so that's something to keep in mind. At least at the time, you needed four to be competitive.

This. If you want successful kids they need to be in charge of their uni careers, not you.

You do know plenty of International kids go to uni in Ireland without following the Irish eduction system?

Ok great, the GCSE /A LEVEL UK system is confusing to me as I haven’t been through it. Kids are happy in school and don’t know what the future holds holds, but if they could start life with va student loan, great for them.. He wants to work in pharma with chemistry so Cork is a great spot for him.. We both worked in Ireland for 24 years, so have plenty tax paid.. sure don’t you know Cork people, we have to be dug out of it🤣

Maybe so titchy.. I’m learning..like any parent I want to support and guide them the best I can..

I’m not sure what you mean by a VA student loan but we pay €20,000 per year for our DD at Uni between college fees accommodation and living expenses. University life is not cheap here.

What's your situation re fees? And mtu is worth a look although you'd be denied a wedding in the Honan!😀

UCC should put ‘Get married in the Honan!’ on their open day material.😀

Though DH pointed out recently that a disproportionate number of marriages we’ve seen get started in the Honan have ended acrimoniously…

I've no expectations about cheap fees, but before accommodation, the undergraduate fees here are 10,000 a year, if it’s not nursing or health related. It’s more about participating in Irish society and making friends there, as we have strong family networks there.

Fees are cheaper (€2.5k per year) , but degrees are all 4 years vs 3 in the UK. And accommodation is just a nightmare right now, but hopefully will improve by the time yours are heading to college. If you have family who can house your student, that would be great. My DC has just started in Queens as Belfast is a much cheaper place to live.

But they might not want to at 18, they might want to go somewhere else.

Don’t live your lives through your DCs. They’ll have their own strong networks and cultural familiarities. And probably won’t want to study in Ireland.

Not ireland...Cork!