Education

Another route to further and higher education

Many courses have progression links to higher education programmes

Uncertainty created by Covid has led to some school-leavers exploring different options. Photograph: iStock

Peter McGuire
Tue Sep 6 2022 - 01:00

This year, for the first time, the CAO wasn’t just focused on higher education but also allowed students to apply for further education courses – post-Leaving Cert courses, apprenticeships and traineeships – at the same time.

“With a few clicks, this means that people who might be interested in these options, or perhaps may not have considered them before, can get the information they need and apply to the courses they want,” says Andrew Brownlee, CEO of Solas.

“Our figures show that 35,000 people have gone from the CAO options site to the apprenticeship site, and that growing numbers of people are interested in their FET [further education and training] options, with ETBs [education and training boards] across the country receiving more calls than ever before.

“Because of the Covid-related uncertainty around the Leaving Cert over the last few years, and because the results will be later than usual, school-leavers and others in education are exploring their options. Some may wish to try out an area of interest, such as a one-year level five or six further education course, before they commit to a longer three- or four-year college degree.”

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To this end, students can do courses such as a one-year pre-university science, law, arts, nursing, business or other courses, getting a taster of what it would be like at third level. Many of these courses have progression links to higher education courses.

“We won’t know until later this year how this will translate into the number of students on these courses, but the signs are encouraging for FET.

Where the jobs are

Unlike higher education, where students may go to get a general degree in a broad area like arts, business, engineering, law or science, further education is all about providing specific training for specific areas of employment – and mostly in areas where employers are crying out for skilled staff.

Joan McNaboe heads up the skills and labour market research team at Solas, and she says that there is a big demand at the moment for information and computer technology (ICT) and finance professionals. Solas offers apprenticeships, traineeships and PLC courses in all of these areas.

Meanwhile, one of the biggest problems facing the Government in its efforts to deal with the housing crisis is finding skilled workers who can build more housing.

Brownlee says that there is a huge demand for workers with construction skills.

“There is a massive imperative for skilled tradespeople to deliver on housing for all. We need thousands more people who are skilled in bricklaying, plumbing, carpentry and other construction trades.

“Hospitality is another area that has traditionally been associated with further education, we are seeing this area really professionalise and upskill their staff so they have promotion and progression opportunities, and it is seen as more than a stopgap. There are currently three apprenticeships available in this area, with another coming on stream. Traineeships also provide a route into a career in hospitality, with a range of options.”

Brownlee says that the tourism and hospitality sector is thinking long term, and hoping it can keep its staff for anywhere between 10 and 30 years.

“So we are upskilling them, training them to be managers, supervisors and experts in green skills. There are initiatives happening here like a programme called 50 Shades Greener, where training is provided around sustainability and [environmentalism] in hospitality.”

Indeed, the commitment to reduce Ireland’s carbon emissions by 50 per cent by 2030 means that any feasible plan must be heavily focused on creating green jobs in everything, from home insulation and wind turbine engineering to solar panel installation, waste disposal initiatives and even developing roles within companies that help guide the company towards having a lower carbon and methane output.

“Green skills will be a big focus in coming years, and we will be rolling out modules for all FET learners, and making more publicly available on eCollege, which will make PLC students, trainees and apprentices the agents of change in their communities and in Ireland,” says Brownlee.

Outcomes

“In order to analyse the progress of PLC graduates, we examined data on three PLC cohorts from 2012/2013, 2013/2014 and 2014/2015 and linked each learner with the educational longitudinal database to determine their outcomes,” says Maria Walshe, director of communications and branding at Solas.

“Our results indicate that:

– A total of 64 per cent of 2014/2015 PLC graduates were in substantial employment in 2016. The same figure for the 2012-2013 cohort was 54 per cent, indicating a 10 percentage point increase over three years.

– For the same cohorts, we find that 27 per cent of PLC graduates continued their education and enrolled in higher education one year after graduation. The PLC to higher education (HE) progression rate seems to have stayed stable over the years.

– The most common sector for graduates (almost 30 per cent) in substantial employment was the wholesale and retail sector, followed by accommodation and food service (19 per cent) and human health and social work activities (13 per cent).

– The median weekly wage of a PLC graduate in substantial employment within a year of completion was €253.60, increasing to €431.50 within six years.

– In terms of progression outcomes, we find that a significant proportion of PLC graduates progress on to a HE course at a higher level within the same year of completion of their PLC course. Most progressions take place between cognate disciplines.

– Another significant finding from our analysis is that those PLC graduates who enrol in a HE course have a high progression rate within the HE, therefore suggesting high completion rates in subsequent years.

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