This week, Career Guidance Counsellor Rory White takes a look at the advantages and disadvantages of Transition Year – and how to make the most of it!
It is around this time in schools where 3rd year students, with their mocks now out of the way, turn their attention to their options for next year and beyond. Two of the three options that are open to 3rd year students are the Traditional Leaving Certificate and the Leaving Certificate Applied. However, by far the most popular choice among Irish 3rd year students (approx 80%) is Transition Year (TY).
Transition Year offers students a different year in school. One where they can continue learning and developing as a young adult and crucially, it also offers a year for them to breathe between the rigours of Junior Cycle and the Leaving Certificate. One of the most significant advantages of Transition Year is its emphasis on experiential learning. Students engage in hands-on projects, work placements, community service, and outdoor activities. These experiences foster critical thinking, problem-solving skills, teamwork, and resilience. ‘=
So, what are the key benefits of Transition Year?
- Gain valuable work experience
One of the most valuable elements of TY programmes is the opportunity it offers students to take part in Work Experience. Depending on how schools run things this may take the form of blocks of a few weeks at a time, or one day a week. Work Experience is valuable for a number of reasons.
- Students can gain a valuable insight into careers of interest (or discover that they don’t like a particular career area)
- They can get an insight into the ‘real world’ of work
- They can gain valuable transferable skills
- They can get the chance to gain experience/references and can gain part-time employment
- Sample new subjects
Many TY programmes offer students taster blocks across a range of subjects. This can be very helpful for students whenever they are choosing their subjects for entering 5th year. The taster programmes offered in TY can give students a much better chance of choosing the right combination of subjects for them.
- Learn new skills and meet new friends
TY offers students the opportunity to try out a range of new experiences and develop new skills through a variety of modules that they would not be able to experience in the Leaving Certificate. TY programmes can offer classes in a wide range of things such as fitness, first aid, volunteering, public speaking, music, etc… It gives students the chance to develop new hobbies and skills that they can take with them long after they leave school. Of course, all these activities give students the opportunity to mix with new people and meet new friends. A lot of the activities focus on teamwork and friendship.
- Bulk out your CV
Students in TY have a distinct advantage over those who proceed directly into 5th year when it comes to gathering up experience, skills, hobbies and references for their CVs.
- Build confidence
The extra year of Transition Year gives students a chance to really grow as a person and it can help to develop their confidence greatly. The various activities and experiences including presentations, interviews and projects serve to give TY students a sense of accomplishment which in turn helps their confidence. Initiatives such as the Gaisce Programme are excellent.
- An extra year to become more mature
Many students who proceed straight into 5th year will find themselves being 17 when they are looking to embark on college life. This is a major transition and one that should not be overlooked. TY offers young people the chance to mature and develop which will in turn help them to negotiate this transition easier. College drop-out rates are higher in less mature students. The extra year of maturity TY offers can not only help them make the right college choices but also settle into college much easier when they go.
Are there any disadvantages to TY?
As with a lot of decisions, there are also a couple of potential pitfalls for some students in choosing TY. Some students may want to get out of school as soon as they can and that five years is enough for them. Others might point to the possibility of them falling into bad habits of not studying. In some schools, TY programmes can be costly: there may be educational tours and lots of trips away on buses, however most schools do their best to keep these to a minimum, where possible.
In conclusion, on the whole TY can be an excellent year for students. It allows the young person to be just that, a young person. Free from the stresses of exams and being given the time to grow as a person, meet new friends, learn and develop new skills and emerge from the year as a more mature, settled student ready to tackle the tough Leaving Certificate.
Students who make the most of their TY year will be the ones who will benefit most from it.
Rory White is a Ballybofey-based Guidance Counsellor currently working with CareersPortal.ie, Ireland’s National Career Guidance Website. He works with Donegal ETB in Finn Valley College, Stranorlar and is a member of the Donegal Branch of the Institute of Guidance Counsellors. For more than ten years he has been helping Leaving Cert and PLC students as well as adults choose a college course or decide to change their career journey to start something new. Rory’s columns on Donegal Daily share advice on making informed career and education decisions.
– Rory White BA/H.Dip in Guidance & Counselling
