Those next steps for students after leaving cert ends
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The Clare Byrne Show on Newstalk with Aviva Insurance.
With the leaving start coming to an end this week, students and parents will be wondering what to do next. Brian Mooney is here, a guidance counsellor and education columnist with the Irish Times to explain what the next steps are from the CAO change of mind to choosing the most suitable course. Brian, you're very welcome. This is a sort of a critical time, isn't it? Because you've come through your exams, you take your break, But at the same time, your head is spinning because you're thinking, what did I learn from the exams? Did I really want what I chose back a couple of months ago on the CAO? So this is a big change of mind moment for people, isn't it?
Well, when they made those original choices, Clare, there were school students in uniform like they had been since they were four.
What should students consider after finishing their Leaving Cert?
And in the last couple of days, they have stepped out, or for a tiny number who'll finish exams tomorrow, most of them are now finished. And they've stepped out and they kind of... I've spoken to a number of them the last week. It is a really weird moment when you suddenly realise the last 14 years of your life, the routine of the last 14 years is gone and you are now an adult. and your perspective on what you might think of doing next, whether it's a one-year PLC, a CAO course, an apprenticeship or whatever, ultimately, you are maybe seeing it with totally new eyes.
But the good news is that you can change your mind at this point.
Oh, absolutely. I mean, we call it change of mind, but CO data would show that the vast majority of current Leaving Cert students anyway, you know, exercise that change of mind. And they have until Wednesday of next week, that is the 1st of July at five o'clock, to go in there and look at all of the Level 8 courses, all the Level 7, 6 courses and make any adjustments that they think are appropriate at this stage.
A lot of people do, don't they, make a change at this stage?
Oh no, the vast majority of current Leaving Cert students, if you look at the numbers, about 50,000 applicants change their mind every year. And if you take out the adults who already know what they want, and you take out those who've done a PLC where they know for the last year what they want, effectively, it's the vast majority of this year's Leaving Certs.
Now, a lot of people are speculating about AI, aren't they? And what jobs AI is going to take and what jobs AI can't take. And it's really impacting the choice that people are making.
It's having a huge effect because students are saying, you know, if I do this particular degree, will I have the kind of role, whether it's law or economic and finance or commerce or whatever? or engineering. And the reality is, Clare, that the nature, if they're thinking of a specific role that an older brother or a cousin or something is doing, the chances are that that specific role may be changed out of all recognition in four years' time when they graduate. But that shouldn't change the fact that that, if it is in your heart, what you really are passionate about. Because in another role that I now have working with retirees, I find people who started work in the 80s and things were a bit grim back in the 80s.
And people who started work and maybe have worked for 40 years and something that really wasn't them and are now trying to find themselves in their 60s. These young people in Ireland today finishing the Leaving Cert or finishing a PLC course, there has never been a greater range of choice. between the CEO courses at level six, seven and eight, further education opportunities, new tertiary degrees, 87 apprenticeship programs. It is amazing. We are so fortunate in terms of the strength of our economy that people coming out of our school system have such a wide range of choice. So have the courage now to believe in yourself and believe in what you think. The question, it's only one question, Clare. What would get me out of bed on a dirty February cold morning to go to a lecture?
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