Springboard

The Springboard+ upskilling initiative in higher education offers free and funded courses at certificate, degree, and masters level leading to qualifications in areas where there are employment opportunities in the economy.

Whether you are seeking to change careers, want to upskill, or need to retrain, ATU’s expert lecturers, support staff, and innovative online course delivery, will ensure you succeed.

See below for the full list of 2024 funded courses available from ATU Donegal:

Springboard+/HCI Application Process

1. Complete and submit Self-Declaration and application.

All applications must be made through the Springboard+ website. All ATU Donegal Springboard+ courses are listed above with the link to the Springboard+ website included. On submission of an application, the Springboard application Status will read “Submitted”.

2. Academic Assessment

When ATU Donegal receives an application, the Springboard+ application Status changes to “Pending”. If an application is complete and supporting documentation received (CV and Qualifications), the application is forwarded to the relevant academic department for academic assessment/review against the academic entry requirements for the prorgamme applied for.

If deemed to meet the academic entry requirements, and a Springboard+ funded place is available, the application status is moved to “Successful” on the Springboard+ portal and a provisional offer is made. If deemed to meet the academic entry requirements, and no Springboard+ funded place is currently available, the application status will remain on “Pending” until/if a funded place becomes available.

If an application is deemed not to meet the academic entry requirements for the programme applied for, the application status is moved to “Unsuccessful”.

3. Accept Provisional Offer

Provisional offers must be accepted by the deadline specified. The application status will move to “Accepted” on acceptance of the offer.

4. Springboard+ Eligibility Check Stage

Information in relation to Springboard+ eligibility can be found here. Note: Provisional offers and acceptance of offers is conditional on meeting the Springboard+ eligibility criteria. Please familiarise yourself with what documentation is required, and importantly, take notes of the required dates for the documentation to be deemed valid.

All applications (other than those that have applied as unemployed) will be prompted to upload their eligibility documentation 6 weeks prior to course commencement. Unemployed applications will be prompted to upload their eligibility documentation 2 weeks prior to course commencement.

ATU Donegal will review and verify documentary evidence submitted to ensure that it meets the eligibility criteria as set down by Springboard+ and that it is dated within the permitted timeframes.

5. Enrolled

Applications with an accepted provisional offer and that are deemed to meet the Springboard+ eligibility criteria will be notified of this and have their application status changed to “Enrolled” and will then be invited to complete registration with ATU Donegal for the programme in which they have applied.

Applications that are not deemed to have met the Springboard+ eligibility criteria will be notified of this and have their application status changed to “AdminCancelled”. Their application will no longer be considered for a place on the prorgamme they applied for.

Further Information

To see all ATU courses and information click here

How to Apply

All applications must be made through the Springboard website www.springboardcourses.ie

Fees & Funding

All applicants hoping to avail of Springboard funding must apply through the Springboard website. Unemployed participants continue to receive 100% funding while those in employment will receive 100% funding for programmes at level 6 and 90% funding for programmes from level 7 to level 9.

Am I eligible?

Springboard+ applicants must meet all residency and nationality/visa requirements, including being ordinarily resident in an EU/EEA/Swiss state for at least three of the five years preceding their entry to the programme.

• Returners – Those who have a previous history of employment but may require upskilling, reskilling or cross-skilling to transition back to the workforce.
• People in Employment – A 10% course fee contribution for Level 7, 8, and 9 courses is applicable for employed participants. This is payable directly to the provider.
• The Unemployed or formerly Self Employed – May apply to all courses with the exception of the two-year part-time ICT conversion courses. Unemployed applicants will also be required to meet additional criteria.

Further details are available: springboardcourses.ie/eligibility

If you have further questions, please contact the relevant campus below. ATU Donegal – springboard.donegal@atu.ie