Today you compare two current Irish apprenticeships against what matters to you, then write a half-page investigation of the one that fits. You will be working from real listings and your own criteria, and you will end up with a written piece you can use again.

An apprenticeship is one of the routes open to you after school, alongside going to college or taking a further education course. What makes it different is the model: you are an employee from day one, you earn while you learn, and employers and training providers share the route with SOLAS.

Four terms you need before you research. Read the table, then keep them open while you fill in the comparison grid in the next step.

Craft vs consortia, in plain terms: craft apprenticeships are the established trade routes (electrician, plumber and similar). Consortia apprenticeships are newer programmes designed by groups of employers with education providers, often in areas such as ICT, finance or hospitality. Both still mean you are employed, paid, and working toward a recognised qualification. When you read a listing, note which type it is and who the employer and training provider are.

One phrase you will meet in listings: off-the-job learning is the part of the apprenticeship you spend away from the workplace, in a college or training centre, usually in blocks of weeks.

How the route is shared: SOLAS oversees the national system; you are employed by a named employer; the off-the-job learning sits with an ETB, college or other education provider. Your research should name all three where the listing shows them.

You will compare two current Irish apprenticeships using the grid, then write up the one that fits you better.

Part 1 – the comparison grid, about 18 minutes: choose two programmes you could genuinely imagine taking, or two you want to understand properly, and aim for one craft and one consortia route if you can. Use CareersPortal, Generation Apprenticeship (apprenticeship.ie), Qualifax, or a named employer's careers page, and fill every cell from what you actually find there. Every cell should hold a specific fact you could point to again, such as a grade band, a number of years, a real task, a note on pay, a place or a next step, rather than a blank or a guess, and you should be able to say where you found it if your teacher asks.

If you are stuck on titles, start with one craft trade you know (for example electrician or plumber) and one consortia programme from the current Generation Apprenticeship listings in a sector that interests you. Weight the rows to match your priorities. If location matters more than starting pay, set it that way and watch which option moves ahead. A result you dislike is useful: it means your real priorities are not the ones you typed.

Part 2 – half-page investigation (about 15 minutes in class, finish tonight if needed): Create (or open) Apprenticeship Investigation in your Strand 1.2 Digital Portfolio folder if it is not there yet. Format: half-page note with these headings:

• Entry – Leaving Certificate subjects or grades, interview, aptitude test, employer offer
• Duration and structure – years, workplace weeks vs college blocks
• Day-to-day – what a typical week or block looks like
• Progression – further awards, roles, advanced entry
• Closing two lines – which weighted criteria decided it, and one thing you still need to check before you would apply

Write on one of the two programmes. If the half-page is unfinished when time is up, complete the empty headings as homework before the next pathway lesson. Do not invent day-to-day detail to fill a cell under pressure.

Keep this file factual and specific enough that somebody else could follow the same trail. It stays in your Strand 1.2 Digital Portfolio folder, and you will come back to it later in the year when you need evidence of the pathways you looked into.

Talk these through with the person beside you, then decide what (if anything) you want to add to your investigation tonight.

• What would make the apprenticeship you wrote up a genuine fit for you, not only an interesting option on paper?
• If the comparator handed you a winner you did not want, which weight was wrong, and what does that say about your real priorities?

Optional stretch if you finish early or want a sharper investigation:

• Find one named employer currently taking apprentices on the programme you wrote up, and note how they ask you to apply.
• Add one line to your document: the first concrete step you would take in the next three months if this route stayed on your map (open day, guidance appointment, employer enquiry, or skills sample).