Post-Leaving Certificate (PLC) courses ( Irish: Cúrsa Iar Ard-Teistiméarachta) are a set of courses and qualifications run in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

for students who have finished their secondary education. The term refers to post-secondary education courses which are not found within the higher education sector, but the further education sector in Ireland. The majority of students who enrol on a PLC course are under 23, but mature students are also welcome, and increasingly enrolling on such courses. A Post-Leaving Certificate course is taken after a student has passed their

Leaving Certificate A secondary school leaving qualification is a document signifying that the holder has fulfilled any secondary education requirements of their locality, often including the passage of a final qualification examination. For each leaving certific ...

, and is generally between one and two years in duration. PLC courses are aimed primarily at students who would like to develop vocational or technological skills in order to enter an occupation, or progress to higher education.

Administration and Delivery

The majority of Post Leaving Certificate courses are certified by

Quality and Qualifications Ireland Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI; ga, Dearbhú Cáilíochta agus Cáilíochtaí Éireann) is the national agency responsible for qualifications in Ireland. It was established by the Oireachtas in 2012 following the amalgamation of the ...

(QQI), who monitor the quality of the courses, set learning outcomes and curricula, and determine national award standards. This was previously overseen by the Further Education and Training Awards Council (FETAC), until it was subsumed into QQI in 2012. QQI does not, however deliver the award programmes itself - it is up to each individual provider to deliver each programme in a suitable way. Usually, courses are provided by ETBs (Education and Training Boards), across Ireland. The majority of courses take place in Colleges/Institutes of Further Education, however they are increasingly being taught in private colleges, particularly in the

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 cen ...

area. Some providers also provide degrees, using PLC courses as a stepping stone for students within their own institution. PLC courses are generally found at Levels 5 and 6 of the Irish

National Framework of Qualifications The National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ) is a system used to describe levels of educational qualifications in Ireland. Responsibility for maintaining and developing the framework lies with Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI). Launched ...

(NFQ), meaning learners graduate with a Level 5 Certificate or a Level 6 Advanced Certificate in a given subject area. Most subjects are vocational in nature, though not all (such as 5M2073 European Studies). Providers sometimes offer courses leading to awards not on the Irish NFQ, but which are nonetheless considered as 'PLC' courses. Examples include the BTEC

Higher National Diploma Higher National Diploma (HND), part of the Higher Nationals suite of qualifications, is an academic higher education qualification in the United Kingdom and various other countries. They were first introduced in England and Wales in 1920 alongs ...

or Higher National Certificate. Providers may also offer awards certified by other qualification authorities such as the

Royal Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...

(RSA), City & Guilds, Institute of Commercial Management, BTEC/

Edexcel Edexcel (also known since 2013 as Pearson Edexcel) is a British multinational education and examination body formed in 1996 and wholly owned by Pearson plc since 2005. It is the only privately owned examination board in the United Kingdom. Its ...

, the Irish Exporters Association and ITEC. An Irish Community College's description of their courses and accreditations.

Course Structure

PLC courses are usually full-time, and run for one or two years. They generally focus on practical work, academic basics, and

work experience Work may refer to: * Work (human activity), intentional activity people perform to support themselves, others, or the community ** Manual labour, physical work done by humans ** House work, housework, or homemaking ** Working animal, an animal t ...

in a relevant industry. Courses (''major awards'') are usually composed of eight or more ''component awards'' (or 'modules'), which add up to at least 120 FET credits; award codes beginning with 5M or 6M designate major awards (for example, 5M2102 Business Studies), while codes beginning with 5N or 6N designate minor awards (for example, 6N1957 Special Needs Assisting). Learners may accumulate credit over more than one sitting, ie. they may study for awards at their own pace, completing modules one-by-one if they so wish. Modules (and in turn major awards as a whole) are graded as follows: Depending on the grade they receive in each module, learners can receive up to 390 CAO points, which may be used competitively for entry purposes into universities, Institutes of Technology and higher education institutions in Ireland. Some courses which are offered nationwide include: *Applied Sciences *

Art and Design A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design'' ...

Business Studies Business studies, often simply called business, is a field of study that deals with the principles of business, management, and economics. It combines elements of accountancy, finance, marketing, organizational studies, human resource management, ...

Electronics The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification a ...

* Computing * Beauty Therapy *

Media Studies Media studies is a discipline and field of study that deals with the content, history, and effects of various media; in particular, the mass media. Media Studies may draw on traditions from both the social sciences and the humanities, but mostly ...

* Office Administration *

Legal studies Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning ...

Marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to empha ...

* Childcare Studies *Work as a

Special Needs Assistant The levels of Ireland's education are primary, secondary and higher (often known as "third-level" or tertiary) education. In recent years further education has grown immensely with 51% of working age adults having completed higher education b ...

(SNA) and supporting learning in schools *Health care support *

Security Studies __NOTOC__ Security studies, also known as international security studies, is an academic sub-field within the wider discipline of international relations that studies organized violence, military conflict, national security, and international s ...

*Dental Nursing (see Dental Nurse)

References

{{authority control Educational qualifications in Ireland Education in the Republic of Ireland Universities and colleges in the Republic of Ireland Vocational education

Administration and Delivery

Course Structure

See also

References