Dropping a language will restrict college options
CHOOSING subjects for the Leaving Cert can be a difficult task for students and their parents. Concern stems from a need to ensure students do not rule themselves out of college courses they may wish to be considered for in the future. Although third level institutions have fewer requirements than one might think, one very important consideration is whether or not students should continue with a language.
This week, we look at some questions transition year and third year students may have as they begin to make the decisions that may influence their future choices. Many people wrongly believe that if a foreign language is not chosen by students, they will not be able to attend third level.
Some schools allow students not to take a language at Leaving Cert and many students who do not enjoy languages or find them difficult are happy to drop it. However, the decision to drop a language should not be taken lightly. Not having a modern language in your Leaving Certificate can greatly impact on choices in the future.
For most third level institutions, it is not necessary to have a foreign language in order to meet the matriculation requirement. For Trinity College Dublin, students are required to ‘pass’ English, another language and maths or Latin. The matriculation requirements for Dublin City University are maths and English or Irish. University of Limerick requires students to present English, maths and Irish or another language. Therefore, if a student does not take a foreign language at Leaving Cert, they should still meet the requirements for these universities as long as they take Irish or have an Irish exemption.
Institutes of technology generally expect students to have passes in English and maths for matriculation, so not choosing a language should have no impact on a candidate’s ability to attend one of these institutions. Neither do PLC colleges require students to have taken a language. However, students may find not taking a language a major problem when it comes to accessing the four NUI universities (UCC, NUI Galway, UCD and MU). All these colleges require students to hold an O6 or H7 in English and Irish in order to matriculate. Students must also hold an O 6 or H 7 in a third language to take courses in the arts, human sciences, law, social sciences, commerce, medicine and health sciences, and some other degrees. Students are not required to pass a language for entry to engineering or agricultural science. Maynooth University recently announced that it will no longer require students to have a modern European language for entry to some business courses. A modern European language will also be required for application to cadetships in the Defence Forces. The impact of all of the above for a student’s course choices is that, while not choosing a language will not affect entry to the majority of third level institutions, it will restrict choice as they will be excluded from the majority of courses in NUI universities. A student with an Irish exemption may apply for an exemption from the requirement to present Irish as a matriculation subject from their chosen institution. They may also apply to NUI for an exemption from the requirement to take a third language. All Level 8 (honours degree) courses require students to achieve two H5 grades and four O6 grades. Trinity requires students to achieve three H5s and three O6s for entry to Level 8 courses.