College Choice – A Different Pathway with BIFE?

FOR people seeking to pursue their dream career, the comprehensive range of courses available at Bray Institute of Further Education provides an excellent opportunity to advance one’s qualifications and employment potential.

“Further Education offers a learner who may not have achieved the CAO points that they required, the opportunity to gain advanced entry onto honours degree programmes, both in Ireland and abroad. It is also a very supportive route for the mature student,” said Gabriel Allen, deputy principal at Bray Institute of Further Education (BIFE).

“Many of our students” he said “who complete a one-year level 6 programme have been successful in gaining advanced entry to year 2 of a relevant degree programme in The Institutes of Technology. For example, if a student wanted to study Business Management in DIT (DT324) but did not get enough points in the Leaving Certificate (350 in 2016), they could do a one-year post-Leaving Cert (PLC) level 6 course in Management (6M4587) in Bray Institute of Further Education and gain direct entry into the second year of that same degree in DIT.

“Over recent years our graduates have achieved honours degrees in graphic design, fashion design, film & tv (moving image), acting for film & tv, dance performance & Choreography, fine arts, psychology, social science, health and social care and music production.

This year BIFE will offer higher national diplomas (HND) in Fine Art, Acting for Theatre & Film, Dance, TV & Film (Moving Image), Music Production, Music Performance, Graphic Design, Fashion Design and Applied Social Studies. The HND is equivalent to a foundation degree and on completion students may proceed to one of our link universities for a further single year of study in order to gain their Honours Degree. Many of last year’s graduating students proceeded to the final year of an honours Degree Programme in Ireland or Britain,” said Allen.

“With the upturn in the economy our morning Accounting Technician course is proving to be very popular. “This two-year course allows BIFE students to proceed to the 3rd year of the Bachelor of Business in Accounting Course (TA111) in IT Tallaght.” Other morning courses include Nail Technology & Salon Management, Holistic & Wellbeing Studies and Medical Administration.”

“There are many opportunities for mature students such as the ‘IT Skills with Digital Marketing’ course, and other IT courses for those who want to break into the world of paid employment,” said Allen.

BIFE constantly updates and introduces new programmes in response to student demand and workplace opportunities. Bray Institute will offer a number of new courses in September:

Hairdressing - Junior Stylist Level 5 Hairdressing – Senior Stylist Level 6

Barbering Level 5

Architectural Technology with Revit Level 6

Tourism, Hotel & Restaurant Operations Level 5

Occupational Therapy Assistant Level 5

Nutrition & Food Science Level 5

All of the above courses will offer progression routes to higher education. Yet you don’t need CAO points to study at Bray Institute.

To discover more about the courses available at BIFE, prospective students are invited to attend an ‘Open Day’ on Friday 24th August from 10am to 4pm. For more information or to apply for courses, call the Institute during office hours on 01-2829668 or log on to www.bife.ie and apply online.