Careers

The Career Service at Methodist College follows the Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance (CEIAG) to provide a service that develops the necessary career management and employability skills students will need, to allow them to make informed choices impacting on their future education and employment.

All elements of CEIAG are very important for each students college experience. All activities and guidance given hope to promote the following:

Career Exploration: Support, Advice & Guidance in identifying career pathways and learning opportunities in education and employment within Northern Ireland and further afield.

Career Management: Support, Advice & Guidance in the areas of career planning, effective career decision making and career development.

Self-Awareness & Development: Support, Advice & Guidance in discovering, evaluating and developing the necessary skills to equip them to choose an appropriate career plan.

Unifrog

Unifrog is a complete destinations platform that allows students to search for opportunities and make applications for their next steps.

InvestIN

Immersive career-experience programmes for students aged 12-18

InvestIN provides career-experience programmes to give school students a unique insight into their dream career. The programmes are designed and delivered by highly accomplished professionals in order to equip students with the tools they need to succeed in that industry, through a series of interactive simulations, case studies, seminars, career coaching and panel discussions. InvestIN delivers programmes both live online and in-person across 20 different industries, taking place over weekends or during school holidays. You can find out more about InvestIN’s upcoming summer internships follow the link below . To register for a programme, students simply need to head to the website, select the desired programme and click ‘Register Now’. Methodist College Belfast is now an InvestIN Partner School, which means students can get 10% off any programme booking by inserting the code METHODIST10 at the payment page. Fully-funded bursaries are also available across live online programmes.

Download further information

Applying to University

Application Process

UCAS

UCAS is the organisation responsible for managing applications to higher education courses in the UK. The website has a bespoke section to support parents of students going into higher education.

UCAS - Parent, Guardian and Carer Guide 2024

CAO

The Central Applications Office (CAO) processes applications for undergraduate courses in Irish Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). Decisions on admissions to undergraduate courses are made by the HEIs who instruct CAO to make offers to successful candidates.

The CAO Handbook provides all the standard information, but must be used in conjunction with the university prospectuses and websites.

The CAO Notes are also available for your information.

Applying to CAO

NUI

The National University of Ireland covers universities in Galway, Cork, Maynooth and UCD - University College Dublin. The NUI website has a long list of "acceptable" subjects. "Applied" A Level subjects e.g. Applied Business Studies, are not acceptable.

To matriculate, which means meet the absolutely lowest possible basic entry requirements, you must have 6 GCSEs including Irish, English and a language and at least 2 of those GCSE subjects taken on to A Level with at least Grade C- for NUI.

Click on each of the images below for information on entry requirements and application process.

Interview Preparation

For some courses, students will be invited to interview as part of the selection process. For many, this will be the first time they have faced a formal interview situation and they may be unsure of what is involved.
Careers staff will help pupils to prepare for interview and give advice and tips about what to expect.

Interview Tips

Examples of University Interview Questions

Careers Interview Prep: Health websites (For Medical Interviews)

Funding & Finance

A key concern for all prospective students is that of finance and funding. More so than ever, students need to take the cost into consideration when choosing courses and location of university.
The below links are about fees and general costs, students should take the time and make themselves aware of some of the issues they will face.

Introduction - https://bit.ly/33ZceUB

Part 1 Application – https://bit.ly/3pmHZ1u

Part 2 Eligibility - https://bit.ly/3hqyhGN

Part 3 Types and Amounts of Support - https://bit.ly/3tehPPE

Part 4 Other Funding - https://bit.ly/3vnwXwy

Part 5 Payment - https://bit.ly/33WIqrE

Part 6 Repayments - https://bit.ly/3MbO6iL

Some Useful Sites

Careers Guidance

Key Stage 3

The careers service begins to play a bigger role at the end of Key Stage 3 when pupils are in third form. Before making GCSE choices, pupils are encouraged to assess themselves, their characters and abilities. This is followed up by interviews involving the pupils, parents, careers and other senior staff.

Some pupils will already know what they would like to do in their future career, but the majority will not yet have a clear idea.

The Form 3 Parents' Information Evening took place on Monday 30 January 2023. You can access the presentation here. This information evening is a precursor to the completion Form 3 Subject Choice Form which must be returned to school by Friday 10 February.

GCSE Subject Choice Booklet 2023-24

Key Stage 4

The Form 5 Parents' Information Evening will be on Tuesday 21 February 2023 at 7.00pm in the Whitla Hall. It will cover the key issues to help with decision making and outlines what 5th year pupils and their parents need to be considering including Sixth Form subject choices, other post-GCSE options and results day in August 2023. This information evening is a precursor to the Form 5 Subject Choice Interviews which will take place between Monday 27 February and Friday 3 March 2023 via Schoolcloud.

Form 5 Information Evening

Sixth Form Choices Booklet

6th Form

By Sixth Form many will already have a very clear idea of the path they would like to take when they leave school, and will have chosen their A-Level subjects with that in mind. All of our Sixth Form students are given guidance and help in choosing a place of higher education or entering a profession.
There is a wealth of information available through the Careers Service Section of the website and a large number of staff that are involved as Career Tutors and are available to offer guidance.

Form 6 Course Information Booklet 2023-2024

Writing A UCAS Personal Statement

Careering Outwards

Application Procedures for Higher Education

Study Abroad Information

Applying to University - Mrs Stott's Presentation 6th September 2023

Useful Links

General

Careers in Architecture

Careers in Art

Careers in Biology

Careers in Business

Careers in Chemistry

Careers in Construction

Careers in Creative Industries

Careers in Drama

Careers in Engineering

Why engineering?

https://i-want-to-study-engineering.org/whyeng/

Virgin Media definitions of technical internet language to help you traverse the world of telecoms, broadband and connectivity:

https://www.virginmedia.com/broadband/glossary

An inspiring website for those interested in science, technology, engineering and maths.

http://www.futuremorph.org/

Go Cracker contains information and news for young people about science technology and engineering subjects, industry sectors, apprenticeships, universities and employers.

http://www.gocracker.com/