Welcome to Years 13 & 14
This section focuses on Year 13 & 14 and provides features relevant to students within these years.
Year 13
When your son goes into Year 13 he may do a VCE (Vocational Certificate of Education ), AVCE (Advanced Vocational Certificate of Education) or AS/A Levels. If you would like to know more about these qualifications click here.
In Year 13 your son will start to think about higher education courses. You will want to support him in this decision making process. This can be difficult if you have never had any experience of higher education and even if you have, things have changed so much. For further details click on the following links:-
Higher Education
Choosing a University
Where to find information
Year 14
In the autumn term of Year 14 your son will complete his university applications. For courses in the UK he will apply through the UCAS system and for courses in the Republic of Ireland it is through the CAO system. For further details click on the following links:-
Applying in the UK
Your son can apply for up to six courses and he does not have to give any preference between his choices. UCAS passes a paper copy of the application form to his six choices and each university decides whether to make him an offer or not.
UCAS will send your son a letter (AS2) to say that his application has been received. This letter will include....
Applying to the Republic of Ireland
Your son may apply for any number of degree courses up to a maximum of 10 and not apply for any of the diploma/certificate courses. On the other hand he may apply for any number of diploma/certificate courses up to a maximum of 10 and not apply for any of the degree courses. This means that he could apply for a maximum of 20 courses or a minimum of 1 course. There are two ways of applying....
Gap Year
A year out between school and higher education.