WCFE celebrates a successful end to a Covid Challenging Year

"Congratulations and well done to all students and staff in Waterford College of Further Education" says Noreen Reilly Principal, as this exceptional College year ends. 

850 Post Leaving Certificate students recently completed their final examinations online to complete their Level 5 & Level 6 courses. This ensures that successful WCFE students are perfectly placed to progress to the next level in their learning journeys. No wonder WCFE is ranked in the top ten FE colleges in Ireland, with an international reputation for excellence. WCFE has seen many seismic social events in its long history. The College continues to provide the largest range of FE courses in the South East.

Interesting and Challenging

"It has been a very interesting and challenging year” said Noreen as she commended the work of students and her very dedicated staff team in the College.

On March 12th, following Government and Public Health advice, WCFE closed its doors and opened its online Teaching and Learning platforms. The challenge was immense, but the dedication and commitment of staff was enormous. Steep learning curves were overcome, and a new age of digital teaching and learning was mastered by students and staff.

Opportunities and Confidence

The College is currently interviewing and enrolling for next September. If anything, the challenges of this year have opened new opportunities for staff and prospective students alike. Successful innovation and adaptation mean that the College can offer students stability and confidence for the academic year ahead. Successful applicants can be certain that they will have a college place in September and access to some of the best progression links in the country. WCFE has links to national and international third level universities and institutes and has one of the best records for direct employment placement in the country. Best of all, WCFE is located in the heart of Waterford, offering a vibrant college experience and small class sizes to support all students on their learning journey.

Applying is Easy

With almost 40 full- time courses on offer, a superb Adult Access programme and a night school, WCFE is the right choice for both school leavers and adult learners. Applying is easy via their website wcfe.ie You apply, do an interview and if successful, you can enrol and get set up for September. If you’re not sure about what you want to do, or if you just want to be sure before you commit to a degree, a Further Education course is the way to go. They are also much more affordable, and students leave qualified and ready for the next step, be it employment or further academic studies. There are progression routes on campus, with a range of Level 6 courses on offer.

Success Story

To illustrate how great a Further Education course is, let’s look at one example. The Advanced Cert. in Audio Visual Media Level 6 is a progression course for students who have done a Level 5 in any of the following; journalism, art, multimedia, sound engineering. (All of those Level 5 courses are also available in WCFE) This year, the WCFE Media Department expanded its links programme and partnered up with Sunderland University. Now here’s the really cool thing; graduates of the Level 6 Audio-visual Media can now immediately progress to the FINAL year of an honours degree programme in Sunderland!

This is just one example of the many opportunities and progression routes available to all the students of WCFE. There are hundreds of testimonials from WCFE students who have gone on to achieve their dreams.

Certainty

WCFE offers a huge amount to a prospective student; education, excellence, opportunity, affordability, but above all, in this particular ‘Covid Challenging Year’, WCFE offers certainty. If you apply and successfully get an offer of a college place here, you know that you are back in the game for September and future ready. You dump the stress and start studying.

What are you waiting for? Apply at wcfe.ie and do it now, because places are filling very fast. Choose a college that puts you first.