Many students and their parents/guardians are unaware that as many as 15 high demand health related courses in Northern Ireland universities offer free fees to students from the South.
They are also unaware that Leaving Cert results requirements are significantly lower.
And also that course duration is one year shorter in almost all of those programmes.
The bulk of these courses are offered by Ulster University (UU), eight Allied Health Programmes (AHP) and two Nursing programmes.
Seven of the eight AHPs are delivered at UU’s Derry campus.
And they take only three years to complete rather than four as is the norm in the South: Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Speech and Language, Diagnostic Radiography and Imaging, Podiatry, Radiotherapy and Oncology, and Paramedic Science.
The eighth AHP, Dietetics, is based at UU’s Coleraine campus and takes four years to complete due to the fact that it has a stand-alone placement year.
The high demand for the majority of these courses in the South is reflected in the very high Leaving Cert requirements, with CAO 2024 points for the above-mentioned courses ranging from 543 to 590.
At Ulster University however the requirement is five H3s. Specific subject requirements, such as Biology, Physics, Chemistry vary per programme. See here for details.
The exception is Paramedic Science, which requires 112 UCAS tariff points counting five subjects, four of which must be at higher level.
Talking to LaoisToday, Student Outreach and Recruitment Officer Conan Meehan, said that there is a common misconception that graduates must work in Northern Ireland for a specific period of time post-graduation.
“This is not true,” he said “while many graduates opt to continue working in health care settings in the North, there is no obligation.”
He pointed to one exception however. “Paramedic Science graduate are required to spend 18 months working in the place of their study before they can register with The Irish College of Paramedics (ICoP) which allows them to work in the South,” he explained.
Nursing and Midwifery
A total of seven free fee Nursing and Midwifery courses are on offer in Northern Ireland, two at Ulster University’s Derry campus: Adult Nursing and Mental Health Nursing; and five at Queens University (QU) in Belfast: Adult Nursing, Mental Health Nursing, Pediatric Nursing, Learning Disabilities Nursing, and Midwifery.
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All of these courses are of three years duration and 50 per cent of course time is spent on placement.
A major bonus is the non-means tested bursary of approximately €6,000 per year available to all Nursing and Midwifery students.
Entry requirements for Ulster University Nursing courses are 112 UCAS tariff points counting five subjects, four of which must be at higher level and include English, Maths and Science at H6 if studied at Higher Level or 04 if studied at Ordinary Level.
“Our Ulster University Nursing graduates can immediately register with both Nursing and Midwifery Board Ireland and Nursing and Midwifery Council UK simultaneously after graduation,” explained Conan Meehan.
“They can practice in both jurisdictions at the same time. Ulster University is the only university that can offer graduates this opportunity,” he added.
For Queens University Nursing programmes three H3s and two H4s are required where a relevant Science subject is offered (Biology, Chemistry or Physics) or four H3s and two H4s where a relevant Science subject is not offered.
In addition for four of the five courses all applicants must have secured five Merits in the Junior Certificate (JC) to include Maths and Science. Midwifery candidates must have secured five Higher Merits in the JC, again must including Maths and Science.
It is important to note that these free fee courses are not open to students who are not Irish citizens, even if they were born here. Without Irish citizenship they are regarded as international students. This change came in post-Brexit.
With free fees, shorter courses and lower points requirements it is not surprising that the numbers of applicants from the South have been increasing year on year, with almost 1700 currently enrolled at Ulster University.
“Another bonus is that campus accommodation is guaranteed for all first years who apply for it before July 7 , as long as they have received an offer from Ulster University AND have made us their “firm” (first preference) choice,” said Meehan.
Enrolments of students from the South are also increasing at Queens University Belfast . “We have experienced significant year-on-year growth of students coming from the Republic of Ireland to study at undergraduate level with us,” said a spokesperson for the university.
“This September we welcomed more than 400 new first-degree students to Queens from all parts of the Republic of Ireland. Our popularity with ROI students has grown significantly over the past eight years or so. In September 2016, we welcomed 67 new undergraduate students from the Republic of Ireland.”
Any student wishing to apply for any of these free fee courses must apply through the UCAS (University and Colleges Admissions Service) system, which is the UK’s version of our CAO (Central Applications Office) system.
It is very important to note that the UCAS deadlines differ from CAO deadlines. For the above listed courses the closing date is January 29.
Additional documents required when applying include predicted grades, references and a personal statement.
In addition Junior Cert results must be submitted in the case of Queen’s Nursing/Midwifery programmes, as listed above.
In general interviews form part of the selection process. And this year, while no details have been published yet, there is talk of introducing an MSat examas part of the application process.
See this link for advice on applying through UCAS.
My advice is to start working on all of those additional requirements now and submit your application as soon as you have it ready.
Don’t leave it until the last minute. Such documents can take a while to gather.
Do your homework, research the courses. Look at the modules for each year in detail. Talk to people to who are already working in that job and do some work-shadowing if at all possible.
This will be useful for yourself to make you more sure the work is right for you, but will also be useful for when you are writing the personal statement and for the interview. Also chat to students who are currently studying in Northern Ireland.
And take time to visit the campus that you are interested in. And of course contact Ulster University or Queens University with any queries you might have. Remember, things change, so keep an eye on their websites and on the UCAS website.
I hope you found this article to be useful. If you did please share with post-primary students and their parents, and follow me on Instagram for further updates.
Gold Star Careers offers one-to-one or small group career advice, in-person or online, to people of all ages, abilities and backgrounds. See www.goldsarcareers.ie for more information.
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