Springboard provides funded 3rd level courses which will help you improve your job prospects.

All courses are part-time, allowing you keep your social protection supports and making it easier for those with families and responsibilities.

Courses with current or future job opportunities (finance, green energy, ICT, science and environment, sales and marketing)

See Am I Eligible? for more details.

To be eligible for a place on a Springboard programme a person must:

• be unemployed* with a previous history of employment

• be in receipt of one of the following payments from the Department of Social Protection :
  • Jobseekers Benefit
  • Jobseekers Allowance
  • One Parent Family Payment

• be signing for social insurance contribution credits

• be actively seeking employment

To participate in a NFQ Level 9 (Post Graduate) course, a period of three years of more must have elapsed between the completion date of your NFQ Level 8 qualification and start date of the NFQ Level 9 Springboard course.

Applicants who are offered a place on a Springboard programme will be required to submit a UP51b letter from the Department of Social Protection confirming the duration of time that they have been in receipt of one of these payments, or signing for contribution.

Applicants who do not submit this confirmation to the provider will not be registered on the programme.

*For the purposes of determining eligibility for Springboard the term unemployed also includes people who are on short term working and in receipt of a Jobseekers payment from the Department of Social Protection.

The UP51b form can be downloaded here, and must be signed/stamped by your local Department of Social Protection office.

With Springboard on Bluebrick.ie you can find out all you need to know about available courses and submit a single application online. You can also receive and accept an offer that suits you.

You can apply right now through BlueBrick.ie/Springboard, simply find a course that interests you.

Visit our F.A.Q page for more information on what Springboard is, the eligibility criteria and other initiatives that are available.