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

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

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 certificate ...

, 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 Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...

Administration and Delivery

The majority of Post Leaving Certificate courses are certified by

Quality and Qualifications Ireland Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI; ) is the national agency responsible for qualifications in Ireland. It was established by the Oireachtas in 2012 following the amalgamation of the National Qualifications Authority of Ireland, the Furt ...

(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 is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

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 introduced in England and Wales in 1920 alongside th ...

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, commonly known as the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), is a learned society that champions innovation and progress across a multitude of sectors by fostering creativity, s ...

(RSA),

City & Guilds The City and Guilds of London Institute is an educational organisation in the United Kingdom. Founded on 11 November 1878 by the City of London and 16 livery companies to develop a national system of technical education, the institute has bee ...

Institute of Commercial Management An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...

, 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. It ...

, 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 ani ...

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, i.e. 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 the concept or proposal for an object, process, or system. The word ''design'' refers to something that is or has been intentionally created by a thinking agent, and is sometimes used to refer to the inherent nature of something ...

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 manageme ...

Electronics Electronics is a scientific and engineering discipline that studies and applies the principles of physics to design, create, and operate devices that manipulate electrons and other Electric charge, electrically charged particles. It is a subfield ...

Computing Computing is any goal-oriented activity requiring, benefiting from, or creating computer, computing machinery. It includes the study and experimentation of algorithmic processes, and the development of both computer hardware, hardware and softw ...

* 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 it mos ...

Office Administration Office administration (shortened as Office AD and abbreviated as OA) is a set of day-to-day activities or tasks that are related to the maintenance of an office building, Financial planning (business), financial planning, record keeping and Invoice ...

Legal studies Jurisprudence, also known as theory of law or philosophy of law, is the examination in a general perspective of what law is and what it ought to be. It investigates issues such as the definition of law; legal validity; legal norms and values ...

Marketing Marketing is the act of acquiring, satisfying and retaining customers. It is one of the primary components of Business administration, business management and commerce. Marketing is usually conducted by the seller, typically a retailer or ma ...

Childcare Child care, also known as day care, is the care and supervision of one or more children, typically ranging from three months to 18 years old. Although most parents spend a significant amount of time caring for their child(ren), childcare typica ...

Studies *Work as a Special Needs Assistant (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