From Leaving CertiFiCate to Leaving SChooL a Longitudinal Study ...

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From Leaving Certificate to Leaving School
Some students in Harris Street therefore felt that it would help if they
could attend colleges or first year lectures at the beginning of sixth year
to get an idea of what specific courses were like:
It would have made sense, say at the start of sixth year [if] we got a
week off and we went to lectures, to first year lectures in college, so
you know what you’re in for because you really don’t know until
you’re there on your first day. (Harris Street, girls’ school, middleclass
intake)
Similarly, students in Lang Street suggested that, as with work experience
in Transition Year, a period of time in sixth year could be spent attending
classes in university which would help them figure out what they
wanted to do:
Just like what’s involved in the course like. And what’s involved in
the job after like. Maybe given indications, again like so that your
work experience in fourth year or whatever when you pick it, you
want it to be, you’d need another one in sixth year, but like instead of
working experience you go to the course and do classes, like in university.
(Lang Street, boys’ school, working-class intake)
This section has focused on the provision of formal guidance in the
school setting. The following section explores other influences on the
decisions young people make.
5.3 Other Influences on Decision-Making
This section examines other factors which influence student decisionmaking
in sixth year. We focus on the influence of parents, siblings and
wider family networks, and examine how some students are influenced
by their competence in certain subjects at school. We also highlight how
a small proportion of students appear to have always known what they
wanted to do from a young age. Others are influenced by work experience
in which they have participated during Transition Year or the LCA
programme and/or while working at summer jobs.