If you have a strength in one subject area in school but may not be academically strong across the full range of Leaving Certificate subjects, deciding to spend a year at PLC level in that subject could be a very wise decision. If students get distinctions in all eight PLC modules, they have a good chance of a reserved place in their preferred CAO course next year.
However, over the past six academic years, new students on nursing, midwifery and AHP preregistration courses in England – which lead to a qualification with one of the health professional regulators – must take out maintenance and tuition loans rather than getting a NHS grant.
When the change-of-mind period closes on July 1st, sixth-year students then have to wait for their papers to be corrected, which leads to the issuing by the State Exams Commission of the results of their Leaving Cert at some stage in mid- to late-August. When the results are released, admissions officers in the third-level institutions inform the CAO of the number of places available on each course.
There are now more than 1,000 Irish undergraduate students registering each year in Dutch universities. Some of these European universities, which rank in the top 100 in international ranking, who registered four or five Irish students eight years ago, are now admitting more than 100 students per year . As is the norm in continental Europe, fees range from about €2,200 in the Netherlands to no fees in Germany and Scandinavian countries.