With the CAO application process for 2025 opening soon, there are now a diverse range of opportunities available for students post Leaving Certificate to prepare them for the career they want after school.
Further Education and Training (FET) and apprenticeships are now considered a valuable and recognised post-secondary learning pathway and are fast becoming a prime destination for school leavers. An increasing number of students are choosing FET and apprenticeship routes as they are well positioned to lead them on to a world of exciting careers.
As the further education and training authority in Ireland, SOLAS together with the National Apprenticeship Office (NAO) and key partners in the ETBI, and Education and Training Board (ETB) network are tasked with highlighting the range of FET and apprenticeships of offer around the country. The annual WorldSkills Ireland and Higher Options events, held in September in the RDS, provided the perfect platform to showcase the extensive range of opportunities for school leavers through apprenticeships and FET in one space.
- Inspiring apprenticeship career stories
A key highlight of the WorldSkills Ireland event included a showcase of Ireland’s Apprentice of the Year 2024 at the Heroes Stage, where nominees shared their inspiring career stories to an audience of Leaving Cert students, highlighting apprenticeships as a valuable pathway to achieve the career they want.
The apprenticeship route appeals to school leavers for many reasons including the opportunity to earn while they learn, gain important on-the-job professional experience and a qualification at the same time. There is also a world of choice with over 70 apprenticeship options now spanning a range of industries as engineering, finance, farming, construction, software development, insurance, aircraft mechanics, hospitality and the pharmaceutical industry.
Speaking ahead of the showcase at WorldSkills Ireland about why an apprenticeship was the right path for her, tech software developer Tobi Okwo, a second-year apprentice at Salesforce, said: “Entering the apprenticeship programme has been the best decision I’ve ever made.
“When I saw the opportunities it offers, choosing this exciting path to the tech industry was more than easy.
“I’ve made incredible strides in my career and found amazing friendships throughout my apprenticeship. I’ve embraced the creative world of coding which offers a unique blend of logic and creativity, allowing you to craft solutions from scratch.”
Further Education and Training has also experienced unprecedented growth in the last number of years and is in high demand with courses for school leavers on offer in every county through the network of 16 Education and Training Boards (ETBs). These Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI) level 5 and 6, or Post-Leaving Cert (PLC) courses prepare students for direct entry into employment, an opportunity to try a topic of interest before applying for a four-year degree and can also provide an important pathway to university.
Sharing experiences of FET learners
The Higher Options event, which also took place in the RDS, provided a platform for FET and Apprenticeships careers talks, one of the panellists Chelsea Lyons shared her experience of signing up for a PLC course in Office Administration and Reception Skills at Coláiste Íde College of Further Education in Finglas. After completing her Leaving Certificate, Chelsea worked in retail for a short time before deciding that she wanted to continue her education. She spoke powerfully about how FET opened doors for her, with a strong message for Leaving Certificate students to consider applying for a PLC after school to give them that extra time to discover what they really want to do after school.
“I feel my course has had an amazing impact on my life. I needed a change of course in my life, and my further education journey has definitely given me that. My opportunities include job, and course offers, and I think I’ll have many options from this course and cannot wait to see how my journey continues as a result of attending my course.”
Chelsea’s dream was to study law, and she has since started a degree course at Dublin City University (DCU) this September, her first choice.
There are currently over 1,500 Post- Leaving Cert (PLC) courses available through the network of 16 ETBs, as well as 70+ Apprenticeship programmes on offer nationwide across a wide variety of cutting-edge, dynamic industries.
