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Representatives from every conceivable option open to school leavers will be present in the Galmont Hotel in Galway on Thursday 6th November. They are all looking forward to discussing career choices with you at this year’s Pathways expo. I will also be present to both speak directly to you in the lecture hall and throughout the event in the main exhibition hall. Don't be afraid to approach me with any question which may be troubling you. The event is the starting point for many students as they begin to plan the next phase of their educational journey. Pathways bring together representatives of institutions and organisations offering students information on almost every conceivable educational progression opportunity available in Ireland and abroad. Representatives from the CAO, universities, colleges, further education institutions and educational bodies will be available at their stands in the exhibition hall, to speak with the students individually. Talks will also be delivered by specialist speakers over the course of the day. Each student will have their own interests and can consult with the wide range of stand holders and speakers accordingly. Preparation The benefit to school-leavers of this unique event depends entirely on each student’s level of preparation prior to it. This preparation will have been ongoing over the last two years through career exploration activities undertaken in transition, 5th and to date in 6th year in schools. Careful planning and an understanding of what you need to accomplish at Pathways will hugely enhance the long-term value of attending. On arrival you will be provided with details of various talks at the event, covering every conceivable topic relevant to progression to higher or further education, both in Ireland and abroad. Students attending Pathways should also compose a series of written questions they wish to tease out with the representatives on the stands. Each college will, of course, present the most positive picture possible of the benefits of the various options their organisation offers. All students can do is engage systematically with each one and after the event sift the information received to enable them to move their career-planning process on to the next stage. Stand-holders will not expect you to make a final decision concerning your future career options based only on attending a talk or following a visit to the stand and a conversation with a representative at Pathways. But, for those who plan their activities in advance, these interactions will help set the agenda for each student as they consider their first step beyond second level education in the months and years ahead. If they have done their homework, many students will have developed very clear course preferences by the time they attend the Pathways event on the 6th of November next. Some might learn they are not likely to secure the high points required for their preferred course or are not taking the subjects necessary to meet the minimum requirements for entry. This is where the Pathways event can be of real value. Rather than feeling downcast and abandoning dreams of your preferred career, you will have the opportunity to interact with other stand-holders, where you will learn about other options that might enable you to achieve your dream course by another route. Major increases in veterinary, medical and paramedical place numbers have been announced over the past few months which should see CAO points requirements in these disciplines drop in August 2026. Ask the stand holders about these additional places. There are also hundreds of high-points CAO programmes across all disciplines that are now accessible through further education (FE ) one-year level five programmes. Many students do not realise that CAO colleges reserve thousands of places each year for graduates of such programmes, where your Leaving Cert point’s results are not relevant. More than 5,000 offers are made at the beginning of August each year, based on students’ performances in their FE programme. Many of these FE colleges will be present at Pathways this year, so seek them out and find out which courses in the CAO link to their FE courses. We also will have the new Tertiary degree options open to students in 2026 with up to forty exciting new degrees offered outside the CAO process, commencing in FE colleges and completing in university. Alternatively, while CAO point’s requirements are very high for many programmes in Ireland, European universities have a very different admissions system. They often simply require two H5s and four passes to gain entry to many courses which require more than 500 points in Ireland. In eastern European universities, fees for programmes in medical and paramedical programmes can range from €10,000 upwards. In many western European universities, fees can be modest to non-existent. www.eunicas.ie Open days Once a student’s interest has been heightened by an interaction at Pathways, consolidated and strengthened perhaps by a close reading of the literature published by the college, the next step should be to find out when the college is planning its 2025-2026 on-campus open days. Many colleges will take your email details at their stand to notify you when such events are occurring. No Leaving Cert student should seriously consider deciding at this stage which college to attend without engaging with the institution in question and soaking in the atmosphere of the place at some stage before course choices are finalised next June. Remember, choosing a course commits you to far more than just a set of lectures and exams over several years. Choosing a course or college is like committing to a long-term relationship and it commits you to a lifestyle and a range of social and extracurricular activities offered by the institution in question. Every student is different in both personality and interests. Some will revel in the cut-and-thrust of very large colleges, while others may prefer smaller institutions where everyone gets to know each other very quickly. Students who select their course choices based solely on the details of the course itself without considering the context within which it is delivered can often find very quickly that they have made a bad choice. How not to engage with Pathways It has become clear to me that a proportion of students attend Career fairs each year without having given any serious thought to why they are there. They drift around the room for an hour, become bored and return home with a plastic bag full of prospectuses. Don’t sell yourself short and pass up this amazing opportunity to inform yourself of what is on offer at Pathways this year. As a final year second level student you will never get so many education/training providers in one place ready to support your career journey. This experience has the potential to be the most productive three hours of career exploration you will spend this year, in clarifying your future options. Use it wisely and build on it in the weeks and months ahead.
