IMPORTANT DATES

TODAY

■ Enrolment Day — Ballsbridge College of FE

■ Open Day — Gurteen Agricultural College

■ Open Day — Killester College of FE

TOMORROW

■ Open Day — Cavan Institute

■ Interview Day — Dun Laoghaire FE Institute

■ Interview Day — Moate Business College

MARCH 20

■ Interview Day — Ballyfermot College of FE

MARCH 21

■ Drop-in Clinic (Enterprise and Humanities) — Dun Laoghaire IADT

■ Open Evening — Sligo College of FE

Q

I heard I have to take a European language to go to college. Is this true?

A

No, you do not have to take a European language to go to college. However, a number of universities require applicants to have studied and ‘passed’ a European language to study the majority of their courses.

All NUI universities (NUI Galway, UCD, UCC and Maynooth University) require applicants to have English, Irish and a third European language to gain entry to all courses, with the exception of science, engineering and agriculture.

Also, languages are not required for business courses in Maynooth University.

What this means is that students must achieve at least an O6 (ordinary level) or H7 (higher level) in a language to take such courses in these universities, regardless of whether or not they will study a language for their degree.

DCU, University of Limerick, and Trinity College require applicants to have either English or Irish (DCU), or English and another language (University of Limerick and TCD). Therefore, students may present Irish as their ‘other language’ for these colleges.

All institutes of technology require entrants to present a passing grade in maths and English only.

So, overall, students who choose not to study a language at Leaving Cert can still apply for the majority of CAO courses, but a significant number may be out of their reach as a result of this decision.