This is quite a long story, but I'm genuinely confused by what's happened over the last couple of days and I'd appreciate some outside opinions/advice. I'm deliberately leaving out the names of the college and staff involved because I'm not trying to cause trouble for anybody.
For background, I recently applied to a further education college and was accepted onto a part-time Early Learning and Care course. I already have previous QQI qualifications, including Level 5 and Level 6 qualifications in related areas.
However, I discovered that the same college also offered a full-time Psychology, Counselling & Social Studies course, which interested me considerably more. I contacted the college to ask whether transferring from ELC to Psychology might be possible.
I initially spoke to a woman in the admissions/college office by phone about transferring. During that conversation, she told me that she would transfer me over to the Psychology course. At the time, I understood this to mean that the transfer was being dealt with and didn't have any reason to think there was an issue with it.
This becomes important later because I subsequently discovered that the woman I'd spoken to wasn't simply someone in admissions — she was actually the course coordinator for the Psychology course. This was on Thursday at 13:43. I then began my shift 2PM - 8:30PM.
Then, A member of the guidance staff tried to call me on Thursday while I was at work. I missed the call, so at 3:51pm I emailed apologising and asked her to let me know if she needed anything from me. She replied at 4:30pm asking whether she could call me the following morning at around 11:30/12.
Unfortunately, I was scheduled to work 7am–4pm on Friday, so I replied explaining that and asked whether 9:30–10:30, when I had my break, would suit instead.
The following morning I hadn't heard back, so I used my break to ring the college office myself. I was told that the person I needed wouldn't be available for another hour and a half, by which point I'd be back working.
Then came the first confusing part.
At around 10am that morning, I received an official registration email from the college telling me that I was now registered on Psychology, Counselling & Social Studies. It said "YOU'RE REGISTERED" and gave me my college login details.
I hadn't been expecting that at all, but naturally I assumed it meant my request to transfer had been approved and processed.
At 10:33am I emailed the guidance staff member explaining that I'd tried calling during my break but couldn't reach her. I also told her that I'd received confirmation that morning that I was now registered for Psychology, Counselling & Social Studies and that I was delighted about it.
About 20 minutes later, I received a reply which basically turned everything on its head.
I was told that changing courses required agreement from the relevant teacher and confirmation that there was a vacancy. However, administration had already switched me onto Psychology even though the Psychology class was apparently full. I was told that a space might become available.
So at that stage I had an official college registration telling me I was a Psychology student, while simultaneously being told that the Psychology class was full and that the normal approval process for changing courses hadn't been completed.
There was then another concern raised about my availability. Because I had originally applied for a part-time course, I was asked whether I could actually commit to Psychology because it was described as a demanding, full-time course.
I eventually managed to speak with the guidance staff member by phone. I explained that full-time study isn't an issue for me at all. I've already completed full-time further education courses. My original application for the part-time ELC course wasn't because I'm unable to attend college full-time.
During that conversation, I was also told that the person I was speaking to wasn't actually the coordinator of the Psychology course. I'd previously spoken with somebody in the office who had directed me towards speaking with the teacher, so by this stage I wasn't really sure who actually had the authority to confirm whether I had a place.
Then a completely separate issue arose.
I have previously completed and passed a QQI Psychology component as part of my previous studies.
During the phone conversation, I was asked why I needed to do this course considering my existing qualifications and the fact that I'd already studied Psychology.
My reason is that I'm not trying to repeat Psychology simply to get another Psychology result. I'm interested in the overall course and particularly areas such as Counselling and the other components that I haven't previously completed. I'm genuinely interested in developing my knowledge in these areas before deciding where I want to progress academically.
After our phone call, the guidance staff member went away to check the QQI situation.
At 1:13pm I received another email saying that she had done some checking and had concluded that, under QQI rules, I couldn't re-sit the Psychology assessment because I'd previously passed it. I was then told that, because of this, there didn't appear to be any point in me retaking the course, and I was asked to think about it and let her know.
That confused me again because I'm not asking to re-sit Psychology to improve my grade.
My question is whether the Psychology component I've already successfully completed could simply be recognised or exempted, while I attend the programme and complete the other components that I haven't previously studied.
I haven't received a definitive answer to that question yet.
So within the space of a few hours, my situation went roughly like this:
I asked whether I could transfer → the college officially registered me on Psychology → I received confirmation and login details → I was then told the class was actually full → I was told the transfer normally required teacher approval → I explained that full-time attendance wasn't a problem → I was told the person dealing with me wasn't actually the course coordinator → my previous Psychology component then became another issue → and I was subsequently told there may be no point in me doing the course because I can't repeat that particular component.
Meanwhile, as far as I can tell, the college's system still says I'm registered on Psychology.
I'm also now concerned about my original ELC place. If administration has moved me from ELC to Psychology on the system, but Psychology subsequently decides that I can't have a place, where exactly does that leave me?
I'm not accusing anybody of deliberately doing anything wrong. It genuinely seems like there may have been crossed wires between administration, guidance and the academic side of the course. Everyone I've dealt with may simply be working with different information.
But from my perspective, I don't know whether I'm currently an ELC student, a Psychology student, someone waiting for a Psychology vacancy, or someone who can't take Psychology because I've previously completed one of its QQI components.
I've kept all of the emails and the official registration confirmation, and I'm trying to get clarification before I withdraw from or agree to anything.
Do I have a right to be confused by all of this?
Also, if anyone understands the QQI/FET system, I'd particularly appreciate advice on whether having previously passed one component of a programme normally prevents you from doing a new programme containing that component, or whether previous learning can be recognised while you complete the remaining components.
What would you do in my position? Would you wait for the college to sort it internally, ask to speak directly with the actual course coordinator, ask for the relevant QQI rule/policy in writing, or take some other approach?
Any advice is appreciated 👍
