WHILE the month of September will always be associated with back to school, children and college students may not be alone in their return to the classroom. September is also the month of the evening course and with the children going to school, the weather getting colder and the days shorter, a leisure hobby course can inject new life into the day-to-day routine.

Learning about a hobby or passion can be life-changing for some individuals and not only does it give them a greater insight into their particular interest, it can also provide a great social outlet for the winter months. In addition, hobby courses have the benefit of being free of pre-exam jitters and stressful cramming.

While evening courses were once confined to the stereotype of computers and creative writing, today's offering is much more diverse.

Creative writing and computer courses such as the European Computer Driving Licence remain very popular and useful, but there is a much wider range of subjects available.

Vocational Education Colleges around the country are the main evening course providers in the hobby areas, but independent schools in some of the larger urban centres offer specialist courses.

Enrolment for many courses will take place throughout September, with start dates usually towards the end of the month. The benefit of taking hobby courses is that you don't usually need a qualification. The cost ranges between 60 and 150, but can be higher depending on the course provider and type.

Expect to dedicate one night a week for anywhere between five and 22 weeks of your life to it. To avoid dropping out as the weeks go by and wasting your money, research the course that interests you.

Sam Lyons, educational co-ordinator and sales director of new website, Courses. ie, suggests that people try a short course before taking on a longer one.

"Try a short course and from there see where you can go with it, " he says.

Courses. ie lists the vast variety of evening courses available throughout Ireland.

"Investing in your education is one of the best choices you can make to achieve the future you want, " says Lyons.

"People think that evening courses are mainly computer courses, but there's much more out there. We're trying to find the most widespread range of courses that exist.

You can find everything from computer courses, belly dancing and hang-gliding to French, parachuting and kayaking on Courses. ie."

He points out that it's not just the range of evening courses that has changed, but also the age range of participants. He says everyone from children to 80-yearolds can partake in hobby courses.

"I think people are beginning to realise that no matter what age you are, learning is for life. Evening courses are becoming more and more popular and people should realise that there are things to do."

Ashfield College in Templeogue, Dublin provides courses in feng shui, digital photography, wine tasting and appreciation and screen writing among others.

Linda Murray from Ashfield College says courses are altered to accommodate changing tastes. "We've run the 'Dine and Wine' programme very successfully over the years, but because everybody's so well travelled and their tastes have changed, the cooking courses are adapting to that. We're now offering 'Discover Mediterranean Cooking', " she says.

Ashfield College is also offering a new course this year called 'Image, Living and Style'.

"It's more geared towards women and is about finding out the best clothes to wear, how to look 10lbs lighter and so on , , things we'd all love to do."

The Cork College of Commerce has courses on door security procedures, life coaching, the property ladder, ceili and set dancing and wedding speeches and toasts.

At Bray Institute of Further Education, students can choose from energy healing, tarot for beginners, belly dancing and more. One of the more interesting courses available is scuba diving at Ardmore Scuba Diving in Dungarvan, Co Cork.

Many of the larger universities and Institutes of Technology (ITs) also offer hobby evening courses. For example, Waterford IT offers everything from Chinese for adoptive parents to gardening and eco-spirituality.

Murray says hobby courses can often be used as stepping stones to longer courses and career changes. "When people ring us thinking of interior design as a career and they're not sure whether to put the investment in, we suggest they do the eightweek programme first to give them an indication of whether they want to get into it as a career."