Student Grant Scheme

Dear Guidance Counsellor,

The Department of Education and Skills published the Student Grant Scheme for the 2011/12 academic year on the www.studentfinance.ie

website on Monday 27th June 2011.

As always, the emphasis is on getting students to apply as early as possible for a grant so as to avoid long delays in processing applications- many students simply don't apply until after they have received a CAO offer. Often students don't properly complete forms or send in the correct supporting documentation. This causes significant delays too. To alert school leavers to the fact that the Scheme has been published and the Student Grant Application Form is now available an e-mail alert has been arranged to issue to CAO applicants.

Up until now, there were four grant schemes. In the first major step to overhaul the student grant system, the four schemes have been replaced by a single unified scheme this year. This will make it far easier for students to apply for a grant.

Students should visit www.studentfinance.ie

to access information about student grants and to complete or download a Student Grant Application Form. Guidance notes on completing the application form are also provided for download.

A new system providing students with an online student grant application facility is currently available in 35 grant awarding authorities.

Access to the on-line application form together with a full list of the grant awarding authorities accepting on-line applications is also available on www.studentfinance.ie

As soon as students have made their final course acceptance they need to complete the relevant course acceptance form and return it to the local authority/VEC office where they submitted their student grant application.

If students have any queries in relation to their grant application they should contact the grants section of their local authority or VEC.

Please find below for your information a link to the completing an application form page on www.studentfinance.ie

http://www.studentfinance.ie/mp9532/completing-a-student-grant-application/index.html

Thank you for your on-going support and assistance,

Yours sincerely,

Nicola Healy,
Higher Education - Equity of Access,
Department of Education and Skills,
Portlaoise Rd,
Tullamore,
Co. Offaly.

057 9324387

H.Dip. in Arts in Post-Primary Education - Hibernia College

H.Dip. in Arts in Post-Primary Education

Information Webinar

On Wednesday, 29 June, at 7pm, Hibernia College is holding an information webinar about its new Higher Diploma in Arts in Post-Primary Education.
To register for the event, click here

Hibernia College’s Higher Diploma in Arts in Post-Primary Education was established to encourage a broader range of people to consider teaching as a profession by providing a more flexible route to becoming a fully qualified post-primary school teacher.

The design of the programme, blending online and face-to-face tuition, is ideal for those who want to continue working while studying for their teaching qualification. The programme is also ideal for anyone who does not have easy access to one of the traditional education providers or who doesn't have time to spend commuting to and from lectures daily.

The programme is accredited for the following 13 teaching subjects: Gaeilge, English, Modern Languages, History, Geography, CSPE, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Accounting, Business and Economics. The College will initially take applications for Accounting, Business and Economics as teaching subjects for programmes beginning in 2012. The College reserves the right, based on applicant demand, to not offer every subject at every programme start date. Any application fees paid for programmes that are subsequently not offered will be refunded.

The programme results in a HETAC Level 8 award and is fully recognised by the Teaching Council. To see a diagram explaining the National Framework of Qualifications, click here

.
Key Information

· Accreditation: HETAC (Level 8.)

· Recognition: Teaching Council

· Min. duration: 2 academic years

· Next intake: October 2011

· Tuition fees: €8,950 (tax relief available)

Note that there is no deadline. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis all year long and are considered for the next class with available places.

UCAS - Getting Ready for Your UCAS Results

Did you apply to UCAS?
If so check out this guide to getting ready for your results.

http://www.ucas.com/students/results/preparing

P.S.
Hope the exams going well.

HEAR and DARE Applicants

Letters informing all HEAR and DARE applicants whether they are eligible or ineligible to compete for a HEAR or DARE place will be posted out at the end of the leaving cert to arrive no later than Friday June 24th.

If an applicant for either scheme is ineligible they have the ability to request a recheck of their application form if they believe an administrative error has occurred.

Applicants must request a recheck by Thursday, 30 June 2011 at 17:15 pm.

If some of your students have applied to either or both schemes please make them aware of this date so they can make appropriate arrangements about holidays etc.

They will find the online Recheck Form by logging into their CAO application using the ‘My Application’ facility of the CAO website on www.cao.ie

Kind regards,

HEAR & DARE Operating Teams

Lia O’Sullivan

Communications and Projects Manager

Irish Universities Association

+353 1 7996022

www.iua.ie / www.twitter.com/IUAcomms

Looking for accommodation in Trinity next year?

http://www.qualifax.ie/attachments/-01_Are_you_hoping_to_go_to_Trinity_in_September_2011_2_col_1.pdf

SLIGO COLLEGE OF FURTHER EDUCATION

NEW COURSES FOR September 2011

Horticulture Level 5

Community Development Level 5

Advanced Certificate in Community Development Level 6

Phone: 071 9145480
Email: scfe@sligovec.ie
Web: www.ballinodecollege.com

CareersPortal now on Facebook and Twitter

There's no escaping the popularity of social media websites, especially for second and third level students! With Facebook now dominating many of our users' time online, and with so many of our visitors active in the evening, we now join them with interesting and timely snibbits of careers related information. Check our Facebook and Twitter pages!

Some Trivia - April 2011

Most popular CAO courses (April 2011):

MI005 - Education Primary - Mary Immaculate
PD101 - Education (Primary) - St. Pats, Drumcondra
MH001 - Education - Primary Teaching - NUI Maynooth
AL029 - Veterinary Nursing - Athlone IT
DT425 - Pharmacy Technician Studies - DIT

Most Popular PLC courses (April 2011)

Fashion Buying & Merchandising - Crumlin College of Further Education
Hairdressing - Carlow Institute of Further Education
HealthScience, Pre-Nursing - Colaiste Dhulaigh College of Further Education
Sports Therapy & Physiotherapy Assistant - Cavan Institute
Childcare & Teaching Assistant - Limerick College of Further Education

Lidl

Applications are now being accepted for Lidl’s Retail Management Degree until May 31st 2011. Applications should be made directly to Lidl via the website www.lidl-degree.ie. Full details of the programme, course content, entry requirements and online application can be found on the website. For more information call the Lidl degree helpline on +353 (0) 45 440 467.

Bord Iascaigh Mhara

BIM are currently recruiting for:

FETAC Level 5 Certificate in Commercial Fishing,
FETAC Level 5 Certificate in Aquaculture and Department of Transport, Tourism & Sport
Engineer Officer (Fishing Vessel) Class 3 training programmes commencing in September 2011.

Interviews for the courses will take place at BIM's National Fisheries College, Greencastle, Co. Donegal on Monday 4th July 2011.

For further details of all BIM's training courses, check out www.bim.ie or email: training@bim.ie BIM's Coastal Training Unit will be delivering training in Dingle, Co. Kerry during May.