My son received his fourth choice from his CAO level 8 (honours degree) list, along with his first choice from the level 6/7 programme (advanced certificate/ ordinary degree) list. He’s unsure whether to accept either offer. Can you help?
While once a minority interest, higher education is now the norm for more than two-thirds of school leavers, and it takes a brave young person to declare that they don’t aspire to go to college.
There may be many reasons why he is hesitating to commit to third level at this stage.
Having explored both programmes on offer, maybe he realises that his heart wouldn’t be in them. If that is the case, he is showing wisdom beyond his years in considering alternatives.
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He has time to consider applying for a Post Leaving Cert (PLC) course in his local further education college, if he still wants to explore his career options. Many places committed to existing applicants will free up as these students accept a CAO offer this week.
He might like to consider one of the dozens of apprenticeship programmes on offer through Solas. These earn-and-learn options cover almost every sector of the economy and offer excellent long-term career development.
Or he may simply need another year to figure out what he really wants to study. Giving him that space and time while taking a PLC course or simply working in retail or hospitality for 12 months would be no bad thing.
If I was in your shoes, the one rule I would lay down is that doing nothing for 12 months and vegetating in his room is not an option.
Insist on a minimum contribution to the household budget to help with the family finance.
If he decides not to take up either offer, encourage him to continue to explore what is on offer for 2023. For example, Higher Options, a careers events run by The Irish Times in partnership with the Institute of Guidance Counsellors, takes places in Dublin’s RDS on September 21st-23rd.
One thing he will not have to worry about is the currency of his recently secured CAO points. The 2022 Leaving Cert results and consequent CAO points are the high-water mark of the education systems’ Covid-19 response.
From 2023 onwards, efforts will be made by all the actors in the education system to unravel the high scores achieved by students between 2020 and 2022 and return grades to pre-Covid 19 levels.
If your son were to apply to the CAO again for the 2023 academic year, his current CAO points score is likely to secure him at least the courses he now qualifies for, and quite possibly some of the top three choices he missed out on in last week’s first round offers.
