THE chances are that there's barely a handful of this year's crop of Leaving Certificate candidates who have their eyes set on a career in court reporting. It's an area that few people know much about, yet it can offer an interesting and reasonably rewarding career.

The two year PLC course in court reporting at Bray Senior College Co Wicklow, is the only one of its kind in the country. Up to 15 people are taken on to the programme each year and, according to course co-ordinator Agnes Gallagher, to date everyone who successfully completes the programme has gained full time employment.

"People won't necessarily obtain jobs in Ireland, but they will get them in England," she says. Each year, agencies come over from England and interview and recruit course participants. Graduates of the course find employment in the law courts, the Dail and with the BBC, where they provide subtitles for television. "Last year 10 of my students were employed by a court reporters' agency in London and are now working in the Old Bailey" says Gallagher.

Candidates need to have good basic English and general knowledge. Minimums of grade C in higher level Leaving Certificate English And grade C in lower level maths are required. Admission to the course is by interview.

"We're looking for people with total commitment who really want to do the course," she says. Students must be prepared to work bard on top of a full day in college, they are expected to work for a couple of hours every evening at home.

"We operate a rental purchase scheme and for £40 per month (a total of £800) students buy their own stenography machines, upon which they practice for two hours each evening. During the day students tape their classes and consolidate their work at home each evening." There's little point in. doing the course if you're not prepared to put in the necessary hours, Gallagher says.

Students spend much of their first year learning theory. "They have to learn a computer language and be able to differentiate between different spellings of words that sound alike. The computer translates their shorthand and they have to make it clear to the computer which word they are using."

Effectively it is a form of computerised shorthand, whereby the student learns to operate a keyboard which has symbols rather than letters.

Each morning students study stenography while the afternoon courses include typewriting, word processing, information technology, computer aided transcription, communications, and political and legal studies. The course is structured in such a way that students who fail to reach the required stenography speed 120 words per minute at the end of first year, can transfer into the second year of the advanced secretarial programme.

The course leads to an NCVA National Certificate and by the end of second year, students are expected to reach between 200 and 50 words per minute. Students who reach 250 words per minute are eligible to sit the Registered Professional Reporters exam (RPR) of the American National Court Reporters Association (ANCRA), which gives them an internationally recognised qualification.

Bray Senior College is the American Association's only recognised exam centre in Ireland, Great Britain or Northern Ireland. Exams are held twice yearly and students come from all over Britain to take their exams at the college.

Many stenographers in this country are self employed and work for agencies on a free lance basis. Incomes vary, but it is possible for a good that is 100 per cent accurate stenographer to earn as much as £30,000 per year.

"Stenographers can earn £13,000 per annum in their first three years," says court reporter Claire O Fearail. The fact that the courts are closed during August and September and for two weeks at both Christmas and Easter, means that freelance court reporters enjoy long holidays. However, since the holidays are unpaid, court reporters have to earn enough money during the rest of the year to tide them over who O'Fereail, is a graduate of the Bray Senior College court reporting course, says she finds her job absolutely fascinating. It's a hectic and intense job, you work extremely hard and as a freelancer you have to be prepared to put in long hours when the courts are in session. But I absolutely love it you learn so much I always say. that doing this job is better than a university education."