THE first official list of places available in "clearing" in the British UCAS colleges will be published on Monday, when the quest for vacant UK university places begins in earnest. Despite improved A Level grades all around and the consequent in crease in the number of confirmed offers on the first round, there should still be at least 30,000 places available in clearing last year it was 40,000.
It seems likely that there may be fewer places available in clearing because of the high offer confirmation rate on round one. However, UCAS points out that this could also mean fewer applicants seeking places in clearing, since they will already have been accommodated so the chances may be just as good as last year.
The list will be published in the London Independent on Monday and there will be another list in the Guardian on Tuesday. The Daily Mirror will also publish a list of vacancies on Monday.
UCAS is operating a student help line today and tomorrow from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., but this does not provide information on clearing vacancies, just general advice on procedures, applications etc. The number is 00-44-01-242-227788. The helpline also operates from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. during the week.
Students would be well advised to think carefully before rushing off to a UK university. With the polytechnics reinvented as universities, the status and quality of university degrees in Britain varies enormously. Last year there was controversy over universities taking in students who had not even passed their A Levels.
Many of the colleges are under severe pressure to keep their numbers up to maintain their government grants, so Irish students should judge the situation carefully before making a decision.
In the past, this column has encountered students with good RTC certificate and diploma places on offer who refused these in favour of a British degree course simply because they thought the course was better if it carried the cachet of a "degree". But they realised too late that the RTC certificate with its ladder of advancement to diploma and then degree would, in fact, have been the better route.
While it is certainly worth while pursuing the options in UCAS clearing, it would be wise not to commit oneself until the CAO/CAS offers have arrived on. Tuesday and all the options there including certificate/diploma courses have been given due consideration.
. CLEARING
There are special forms which applicants for the places available through clearing are required to fill out. Ignore these for the moment. The only effective way to get places through clearing is to identify the college and course you are interested in, then phone the college directly and ask for the admissions tutor for the course.
The reality is that most of the business in clearing is done on the phone and you can effectively talk yourself into a place. They will, of course, want to confirm your Leaving Cert results and any other course requirements, but the initial contact needs to be made on the telephone and made quickly.
If you wait to go through the tedious process of the application form, the place you are interested in is likely to be gone. Hit the phone first, then deal with the paperwork later.
. QUEEN'S
There is an advice help line in operation at Queen's University Belfast on Monday. Tuesday and Thursday in the afternoons. The number is 080-1-232-335081.
Decisions on offers to existing applicants but no advice or discussion is available on 080-1-232-335335 from 9a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. next week. Queen's will also provide advice and information to personal callers to the college next Wednesday from 2 to 5 p.m. in the Whitla Hall.
. UNIVERSITY OF ULSTER
There are open advice days on the Jordanstown campus next Wednesday from 8.45 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. and from 2 to 4 pm. in Coleraine on Thursday from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and from 2 to 4 p.m. and in Magee College, Derry, on Friday from 10 a.m. to p.m.
. PHYSIOTHERAPY
In many if not most cases Irish students studying physiotherapy in UK colleges can no longer have their fees paid. The Department of Health is now the main funding body for these courses and not the Department of Education or local education authorities the Department of Health is not obliged to pay EU students' fees.
This means that Irish and other EU students could face fees of £5,000 plus to study physiotherapy.
It is important, therefore, to check with the relevant college and health authority before accepting a place.
. NURSING
There is a lot of confusion about the new procedures under the Nursing Applications Centre (NAC). Students have complained to Points Race about being unable to obtain information relating to the centre and two furious guidance counsellors contacted us to complain they were told by the NAC that no information could be provided, as it was "confidential".
The information provided to us by the NAC is that they are sending out offers to arrive early next week.
The places are decided on the basis of the interview only there are no "points" for Leaving Cert results. The procedure is that all applicants sitting the necessary subjects in the Leaving Cert were interviewed earlier in the year.
Some were eliminated at this stage and second interviews took place. Applicants were allocated ratings based on these interviews it was necessary to await the Leaving Cert results simply to check that the applicants had passed the required subjects.
There were three centralised interview boards in Galway, Dublin and Limerick. The 12 participating hospitals were represented on all of these. As this column understands it, decisions on offers are, therefore, made by the central committee, not the individual hospitals, which are simply sent a list of eligible candidates, ranked in order.
It is possible to combine two different Leaving Certs to meet the subject requirements therefore a student who did not have say, Irish or Maths, could repeat that subject only and this would be accepted next year along with the remaining 1996 results.
Callers have been inquiring from this column about the value of doing a PLC course in nursing studies. It seems to us that this is still a very useful route to take. Clearly, the experience and knowledge gained on a PLC would prove very valuable to a candidate in terms of performance at an interview.
. REPEATS
We are getting a lot of calls from students contemplating repeating the Leaving Cert. In many cases this seems somewhat of a panic reaction and it would be a bit precipitate to make decisions before the middle of next week.
Points may fall you don't know yet. Equally, it is unlikely that many students will not have some offer in the CAO/CAS system. Last year, 46,000 applicants got an offer of one kind another on round one.
Don't dismiss diploma/certificate offers lightly. Points Race has encountered plenty of students who have repeated only to subsequently regret not taking up a perfectly good RTC offer.
. CAO OFFERS
The CAO/CAS offers are still running on schedule. They are being sorted and packed in the CAO offices in Galway today and tomorrow and will be posted on Monday. An Post has mounted a huge operation to ensure that all will be delivered on Tuesday.
The points will be published in the Irish newspapers next Wednesday.
. MARY IMMACULATE
We're delighted to clarify that in Mary Immaculate College of Education in Limerick they were not just saying their prayers on the Feast of the Assumption they were open all day and dealing with students' queries, unlike most of the RTCs.