The most dependable way to decide what to do after the Leaving Cert is to use different Irish resources for different questions, then turn verified information into one preferred route and realistic alternatives. An interest quiz, past points or one person’s opinion cannot decide for you. Use them alongside your subjects, results, finances, location preferences and each option’s entry conditions.
Use the right resource for each career decision
- CareersPortal: explore occupations, daily work and related roles. – CAO: find and compare courses using its course lists and application handbook for the relevant application cycle. – Provider pages: check course-specific details. – SUSI: grant rules and eligibility. – The official national apprenticeship service: apprenticeship programmes; then use the employer vacancy route for hiring details. – The relevant ETB, school or provider: PLC and traineeship details, applications and deadlines.
Interest or aptitude tools can suggest themes such as helping people, technical problem-solving, design, business or outdoor work. They do not prescribe a career. Test results against your academic work, activities, practical preferences and further-education or employment requirements.
Use this workflow to keep research focused:
- Use an interest tool to generate two or three broad themes, not a final career choice.
- Use occupational information to find out what related roles do, the skills used and qualifications commonly requested.
- Compare routes that still appeal, including CAO courses, PLC courses, apprenticeships and traineeships.
- Check requirements, costs and deadlines with the responsible organisation before keeping an option.
- Record one preferred route and at least one realistic alternative, with a next action for each.
Turn interest themes into occupation questions
Turn a vague interest into answerable questions. If you are interested in health, ask about daily tasks, direct contact with people, qualifications and related roles using similar skills. CareersPortal occupational information can help you examine work activities, skills, qualifications and related career areas rather than relying on a job title alone.
Use your school guidance counsellor to test assumptions about course choices, routes and concerns. Bring evidence: subjects you enjoy, work experience, activities, questions about a role and requirements you have found.
Your subject experience is evidence, but not a label. Review a relevant area through Leaving Cert revision resources and note which topics you understand, tolerate or genuinely want to explore further.
If you are unsure which occupation theme to explore, use SimpleStudy topic notes and quizzes to revisit one relevant Leaving Cert topic. Choose one theme, spend 20 minutes reviewing the topic, then write down two observations to discuss with your school guidance counsellor.
Compare CAO courses using official course information
Use Qualifax and CAO’s course lists and application handbook for the relevant application cycle to discover and compare higher-education courses, check course codes, rules, access schemes and deadlines, and use the provider page for course-specific details. Leave detailed eligibility and restricted-course checks to the final verification stage.
Make one row per course in a comparison table. Note the qualification level, minimum entry and Leaving Cert subject and grade requirements, recent points, content, location, placement, likely costs, funding and application route. Recent points are context, not a prediction: they can change with applicant performance, demand and places.
Put CAO choices in genuine preference order, rather than lowering a course because prior points seem unlikely. Rule out courses whose published entry criteria do not fit, then rank the remainder by learning, location, cost and career fit.
Include affordability from the start. Compare provider fees and living costs, then use SUSI’s current rules to assess eligibility through household reckonable income, meaning the income SUSI counts under its rules. Check both maintenance support for living costs and support towards fees. Published SUSI thresholds and grant rates currently available are for academic year 2026/27, not 2027/28, so check SUSI’s publication for the relevant year.
Compare PLCs, apprenticeships and traineeships on the same criteria
A CAO course is not the only strong route after the Leaving Cert. Compare every option using the same questions, so a university course is not judged on different evidence from a practical or work-based route.
The Department’s Post Leaving Certificate page states that PLCs are full-time post-Leaving Certificate courses that generally lead to QQI Level 5 or Level 6 awards. Apply directly to the relevant Education and Training Board, school or provider, rather than through CAO. A PLC may offer progression to selected higher-education courses, but compare the exact QQI award with the destination-course criteria.
Apprenticeships combine education and training and can lead to National Framework of Qualifications awards from Level 6 to Level 10; the framework shows qualification levels. An employer must hire you before you become an apprentice, so compare the programme information with the employer vacancy route. Entry criteria vary by apprenticeship.
For a traineeship, use the relevant ETB or provider for its duration, fees or allowances, entry criteria and applications. For each non-university choice, note the qualification level, provider or employer, work-and-learning structure, pay or fees, progression, application method and current deadline.
Verify every shortlisted option before keeping it
Use a final verification pass only for choices you might genuinely apply for. Confirm stated Leaving Cert subjects and grades, not just points, and check the relevant application year’s official deadline. Also identify any restricted course, meaning one with an earlier deadline or an extra selection step such as a portfolio, interview, test or assessment. Recheck the official CAO timetable because dates may be amended.
For PLC progression, confirm the specific QQI award, modules and destination-course rules. For any mature or alternative entry route, read the provider’s current details and its conditions rather than assuming it replaces standard entry criteria. For apprenticeships, confirm the programme criteria and employer vacancy process separately.
If a disability negatively affected your second-level education, check whether DARE may apply for reduced-points places. Discuss your circumstances with your guidance counsellor and read the current official scheme information, as eligibility and deadlines matter.
Move a choice to backup status or remove it when verified evidence shows it does not fit, such as a required subject, unaffordable location, portfolio deadline or impractical employer location. A short list based on confirmed facts is more useful than possibilities that cannot work.
Choose a preferred route and give every option a next action
Here is an illustrative computers-focused plan. The student starts with a computing interest theme, investigates the day-to-day work of related roles through CareersPortal, and compares a Level 8 computing course through CAO information for the relevant application cycle and the provider page. They note stated Leaving Cert requirements, recent points as non-predictive context, content, location, placement and costs.
They compare a related higher-level apprenticeship through official apprenticeship information and an employer vacancy route, noting entry criteria, location, paid-work structure and separate application actions. After a guidance-counsellor discussion, they retain the best-fitting Level 8 course as their preferred CAO choice, a suitable CAO course as an alternative and the apprenticeship as a parallel choice, dropping a route whose location and entry criteria do not fit.
- Preferred route: name the course, PLC, apprenticeship or traineeship, why it fits, the application body, the current official source checked, its deadline and your next action.
- Realistic alternatives: list routes you would genuinely take if the preferred route is unavailable, with a next action for each.
- Deadlines, documents and questions: write each route-specific deadline, assessment, portfolio, CV, application account or other required document. List unanswered questions for your guidance counsellor or provider.
- Review date: put a date in your calendar to review the plan after Leaving Cert results or an unsuccessful application.
