Open College Scholarship Programme for 2011

**Due to a high level of interest the Application Deadline has been extended to August 30th.**

Overview

The Open College is a social entrepreneurial organisation which has in just over three years become Ireland's largest provider of FETAC approved courses. This has happened because we offer our courses at the best value possible across the whole of Ireland. We are also extremely proud of the fact that we believe we are the first organistation to offer educational and training courses to the public on a not for profit basis.

Programme

Welcome to the Open College's first Scholarship programme. As Ireland’s leading provider of Distance & eLearning courses, our courses educate and train hundreds and hundreds of people throughout the country. Our interaction with these people reminds us daily about our responsibilities as an employer and as a good provider of education.

While price, value and delivering excellent service will always be important for the very many people who enrol with us each year, other issues are increasingly important too.

This year and every year for the next 5 years The Open College will be running a scholarship programme offering over 30 FETAC award courses free to successful applicants across Ireland at a value of over €100,000. These courses will be delivered by distance learning and the scholarship programme is our way of providing FETAC awards to people who may not be in a position to further educate themselves for whatever reason.

Each scholarship issued will be fully comprehensive with all course materials supplied and with one-to-one tutor support for the duration of the course. All tutor fees, course fees, examination and certification fees will be covered as part of the scholarship.

Our scholarship programme covers all FETAC Levels 5 & 6 component awards as offered by the Open College but does not include Major awards.

Eligibility requirements to apply for scholarship

Applicants must:

seeking to up-skill or have been made redundant
have the Leaving Certificate or equivalent
seeking work or training
be over 16 years of age
have time and dedication to complete the course by distance learning (12 weeks max)
be fluent in spoken and written English
Irish resident
require financial support
have and provide a career plan/and have a valid reason for taking the course

Jobseekers, long tern unemployed and those on back to work programmes are also eligible.

All applications must be completed on the official application form obtainable from.

The Open College
Cornelscourt
Dublin 18.

Or downloadable from:
Open College Scholarship Programme 2011 Application.docx

Online Applications can be completed through The Open Colleges website at:
http://theopencollege.com/scholarship-programme-application.html

All applications must be completed and submitted by ~~Friday July 31st 2011.~~ Extended: August 30th 2011. The judging panel below will then review all applications and select successful applications.

Judging Panel:

Joe Walsh – CEO, The Open College
Editor/Producer – Local Radio Station Programme
Another TBC – FETAC representative, Department of Education or other regional/national representative.

Those excluded from applying include:

people already on a FAS course,
those in employment,
those in education,
those under 16 years of age
family or employees of The Open College
Students currently enrolled with The Open College.

Estimated Timeframes:

Launch of Scholarship: July 5th 2011.
Closing dates for receipt of Applications: ~~Friday July 31st 2011.~~ Extended: August 30th 2011
Selection of successful applicants: July 25th – August 30th.
Maximum Course Delivery/Completion: September 8th to November 28th
Exams and Results Issued: November 2011.

Breakdown of 33 Scholarships available:

County	Scholarships	County	Scholarships	County	Scholarships
Carlow	1	Cavan	1	Clare	1
Cork	2	Donegal	1	Dublin	4
Galway	2	Kerry	1	Kildare	1
Kilkenny	1	Laois	1	Leitrim	1
Limerick	2	Longford	1	Louth	1
Mayo	1	Meath	1	Monaghan	1
Offaly	1	Roscommon	1	Sligo	1
Tipperary	1	Waterford	2	Westmeath	1
Wexford	1	Wicklow	1

Terms and Conditions:

Childcare and Healthcare course may require applicants to get Garda clearance
Applicants must be agreeable to attend Photo shoot and or Certificate Award Ceremony
Applicants must make themselves available to speak with media if successful in applications
All courses available in this scholarship programme may require some ‘Level of Entry Requirements’ and “’Preferred Entry Level’. Full details on these are set out with individual course contents on our web site.
Evidence to support they above may be requested if successful.
Successful applicants may be required to pay for personnel travel to attend Award ceremonies or any costs that may be incurred in providing evidence of Skills Demonstrations or Work Experience placements.

Your Local Radio - Supporting your Community with The Open College Scholarship Programme

The Open College would like to Thank all the local media that have supported the 2011 Scholarship programme. Details of your local support and judging panel members to date are:

	95.8 LMFM Radio (Drogheda): The Late Lunch - Click here to listen to The Open College discussing the programme with LMFM.
	Mid-West Radio FM (Mayo): The Tommy Marren Show.
	FM104 (Dublin): The Strawberry Alarm Clock
	Galway Bay FM (Galway): The Keith Finnegan Show
	Spin 103.8 (Dublin): Late-night news
	WLR FM (Waterford): Deise AM
	Ocean FM (Sligo, Leitrim & Donegal): North West Today

Our Promise to You:

We are Irish, 100% Irish and proud members of the Guaranteed Irish movement – 'your safeguard for quality and Irish jobs'. We do not offer UK distance learning courses with questionable second-hand UK accreditation.
We are Ireland's leading College providing Accredited Courses at the best Prices. Nobody can match us either for Quality or Price.
One-to-One Tutor Support: Our Students are provided with one-to-one support by qualified and experienced Tutors.
Study at your own pace. We allow ample time to complete your courses and we do not impose restrictive or our punitive conditions when you avail of our special offers.
All Our Courses are FETAC Approved. The Further Education and Training Awards Council (FETAC) is the national awarding body for further education and training in Ireland. The Open College is registered with FETAC to offer programmes leading to FETAC awards in the National Framework of Qualifications in Ireland. Click here for details of the National Framework of Qualifications .