Our Story

The Study Centre is a purpose-built facility located in Ballinasloe town. It consists of a study hall with individual study desks for 50 students, a large training room, a fully equipped conference room, and a purpose-built and dedicated exam testing centre. These rooms are supported by an equipped kitchen/canteen facility, which is available for all users of the Centre.

The Study Centre caters for learners of all ages. We provide adult education through evening and morning courses in a large number of disciplines. Office rental and Hot desking facilities for remote workers, college students can avail of our study spaces and we have full wrap-around support for secondary school students. This includes a large and comfortable supervised study hall, a space to heat meals and enjoy a tea/coffee, qualified teachers on hand to help with study plans and evening homework, subject-intensive revision courses and subject grinds throughout the academic year.

The Study Centre is owned and run by Ruth Sheridan Cregg, a Ballinasloe native. Ruth is a secondary school teacher of Business, Accountancy and Economics. She has a Masters in Equality studies and Social Policy and is currently completing her PhD in Education with Maynooth University. She is a member of the Network for Educational Action Research, Dyslexia Association of Ireland and a lifelong student. After teaching for many years at both Secondary school and within adult education, Ruth completed a Masters programme to align with her interest in educational inequality and has a keen awareness of difficulties students face surrounding learning and studying.

“A key area of education is care and understanding. Educational difficulties present in every classroom across the country that a teacher walks into. Rarely, if ever, have I taught a class or group of students who were confident in their ability and possessed the understanding of how they learn or how to enjoy learning. Throughout secondary school, teachers expect students to have an innate understanding of how to study, focus and motivate themselves, but that is just not the way. We need to be taught how to learn, how to study and most importantly how to enjoy subjects. Difficulties such as Dyslexia, Dyspraxia or even just confidence, hinders learning and understanding in an incredible way. I have learned through my years as a teacher that simply caring about the individuals in front of me and taking time to understand their needs as a learner transforms their ability.”

The Study Centre has been build on the foundation of care while learning. A dedicated space where people can return to education with a part time course, students can have a quite zone to study, a person to call on when they need help with coursework, and everyone can avail of advice for moving forward with their programme of study and learning.

“Every single person has ability. Every single person is intelligent, you as a learner just need to find your area of intelligence and then start to enjoy exploring that area. Just one step starts you moving, and at The Study Centre we will guide you to achieve your own success.”