If you're in the unfortunate position of having reasonably good Leaving Cert results but no suitable third-level place, cheer up. The good news is that it's still not too late to apply for a place in a college in Britain or Northern Ireland. Every year during August and September, UCAS, the British central admissions service, offers a clearing system for vacant third-level places in colleges and universities in Scotland, Wales, England and Northern Ireland. Information on college vacancies is published regularly in British newspapers and is available on the UCAS website (www.ucas.ac.uk).
The London Independent is publishing updated lists of vacancies all this week and on some dates in early September. Anne Byrne, careers and guidance correspondent, will keep you posted about clearing details in her College Places column daily in The Irish Times. The clearing system has been in operation since the results of the A-levels were published last Thursday and many places have already been snapped up, so if you are serious about obtaining a place, you need to act immediately. Go through the lists of vacancies and decide if there are any courses that interest you. Think carefully about whether you would like to spend your student years in cities like Liverpool, Birmingham or whatever locations have colleges offering courses in which you are interested. Once you have made your decisions, phone the relevant college and ask to speak to the admissions tutor for the particular course. The tutor will be able to tell you whether you merit a place - based on a discussion of your Leaving Certificate results.
It's vital that you go ahead and make these phone calls before filling in your application forms. The message from the colleges is: get your offer, accept it and then deal with the paperwork. It's well worth contacting the college even if you have narrowly missed an offer of a place because your marks have fallen short of those required on the conditional offer. You could well find that the college will offer you a place on the original course with your lower marks or may even suggest another course. If they direct you to an HND (Higher National Diploma), instead of a degree programme, consider it carefully. You may be able to transfer to the degree course at a later stage.
In some instances - in some arts, engineering and science courses and a number of paramedical courses for example - it may even be easier to obtain a place on a UK course than on a similar course here at home. But don't pin your hopes on getting into a high prestige course - medicine, dentistry or veterinary for example - admission is as difficult in Britain as it is here. One of the downsides of going to college in Britain or Northern Ireland just now is the fact that the Irish pound is worth about 15 per cent less than the British one. Currency fluctuations can have a disasterous effect on tight budgets. Another downside of going to college in Britain or Northern Ireland is the fact that the British government has introduced a means-tested £1,000 tuition fee this year. As a result, however, British college applications are slightly down on previous years (2.4 per cent), which may mean that there will be even more vacancies available than in the past. Traditionally, Northern Ireland has been a popular venue for students from this State. Students from the Republic account for up to 10 per cent of the annual intake into both Queen's University Belfast (QUB) and the University of Ulster (UU). For many students living near the Border, universities in Northern Ireland are often a first choice - from parts of Donegal, for example, access to Belfast is far easier than it is to Dublin.
This year, however, applications from the Republic to both universities are down by nearly 30 per cent - almost certainly as a result of the introduction of fees. Still, a large number of students from the Republic regularly use colleges in Northern Ireland as an insurance policy, in case they fail to get suitable offers down here. If they're offered a place here, they turn down the offers they have received in Northern Ireland. This invariably causes difficulties for the college authorities there, who are hoping that this year's crop of applications from the South are genuine.
It's likely that there will be relatively few clearing places on offer in Northern Irish universities, since Northern Ireland suffers from a shortage of university places. QUB operates an internal clearing system which offers CAO applicants the opportunity to list alternative course options in case they fail to make the grade for their first choice. These applications mop up many of the places which would otherwise go into the UCAS clearing system. Any vacant places are usually snapped up on the first day of clearing - so again the advice is: if you fancy a place in Northern Ireland, act now. Both QUB and UU deny reports that some courses are in danger of being cancelled because of the reduction in the number of applications from the Republic.
Contact Points
UCAS helpline: (0044) (1242) 227788 (until Sept 18th: Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, 9 a.m. to 12 noon)
University of Ulster helpline (this week only - 9 a.m. to 4.45 p.m. - except Friday to 3.45 p.m.)
Courses at Coleraine and Magee College (excluding art and design): (08) (01265) 324941/2
Courses at Jordanstown: (08) (01232) 366850/1/2/3
Courses in the faculty of art and design: (08) (01232) 267201/2/4.
Queen's University Belfast helpline: (08) (01232) 335081
