A parent’s guide to helping your children start college life
‘Almost 4,500 every year in Ireland do not progress from year one to year two … There’s a lot of unhappy students and parents’
Advice for college first years: ‘You need to force yourself to go to at least one club’
If initially it can seem a bit hard to break into circles, clubs and societies are key to settling in to college life, says one fourth year
Cost of college: How much can you expect to pay for third-level education in Ireland?
Rent, food, travel, books, laptops and the €2,500 contribution fee add up to a considerable amount for students and families
Starting college: ‘The social life, making new friends, new connections, the education’
New horizon beckons for teenager who hails from DRC but has progressed from St Aidan’s Community School in Tallaght
Relief at securing a college place: ‘I’m just going to enjoy Galway city’
Having been denied Dare, Grace McNamara is very excited to have secured an arts place
Education matters: ‘Committing to something for four years, I needed to think about it’
When the offer came through, Alex Murphy was unsure if he wanted to pursue the course
‘It felt like I’d won’: CAO delight on anniversary of teen’s diabetes diagnosis
Danny Goff says moving to Maynooth will pose challenges, but he can’t wait to get started
Apprenticeships: ‘It’s hard, working and studying at the same time’
A social media post planted the idea of an accounting technician’s apprenticeship in Lauren Hickey’s head
Restricted courses: It’s difficult when everyone around you is going, ‘oh, you’ll get in’
Students typically apply for restricted courses earlier in the CAO process
‘Even the canteen lady knew my name at the PLC college. Everybody is so close-knit’
Lana Dowling was ‘lost’ for a long time in secondary school, but PLC courses proved a huge help in building her future
‘Imagine if my two kids ended up in TUS as well and they’re looking at their old man walking around’
Having begun a tertiary degree at 45, David Faulkner is proud of being able to say: ‘I am able; I am capable’
‘They called me and I went for the interview ... They just needed my Leaving Cert results’
The tertiary degree route is one student Saira Mughal highly recommends to others
‘Mum is in tears, she can’t talk’: Student who left school in second year gets 625 points in Leaving Cert
She studied the Leaving Cert course through online grinds, which she worked to pay for, and through the use of free online teaching videos on YouTube
Advice for first years: ‘You don’t find yourself at university, you kind of create yourself there’
Bel Aghedo has completed her first year of a law degree at University of Galway
Are you too late for campus accommodation? What should you do now?
On-campus housing can be both expensive and difficult to secure