‘Cruel lottery’: students on top grades who lost out on chosen CAO courses are heartbroken. Is there a fairer system?

Sarah Kenny was one of many students who got maximum points in her Leaving Cert but still lost out on her dream course: economics and finance at UCD.

“It’s like being in no man’s land, waiting to see if I get an offer in round two or a later round,” she says. “I’ve accepted a place in UCC in the meantime, but I’m starting a course with another in the back of my mind. And if I do get into UCD, I’m going to have to go and find accommodation.”

With the help of her father, Bobby, Sarah is one of a number of students who has highlighted this ongoing problem.

“The Minister for Further and Higher Education, Patrick O’Donovan, says that is the system set by the universities,” says Bobby. “So it’s down to the higher education institutions to see sense and increase their intake.”

Sarah says a lottery is cruel and leaves young people’s futures to chance.

“They could look at a candidate’s combined percentages, rather than crude grades. If I lost out then, I would accept it, because it would be clear that other people did better,” she says.

Last month, more than 2,700 students received more than 600 points in their Leaving Cert. But many of these high-achievers nonetheless faced heartbreak as they lost out on their college course of choice due to random selection.

The National Association of Principals and Deputies says school leaders are increasingly frustrated with Ireland’s current university selection process – but is there real will to change it?

“The CAO is simple, crude, and inadequate,” says Paul Crone, director of the National Association of Principals and Deputies. “The current university selection processes … fail to adequately consider students’ aptitudes, interests and abilities when offering places in higher education.”

Many people are surprised to realise the CAO is a private entity, wholly owned and operated by the universities, and therefore at an arm’s remove from public scrutiny.

[ â€˜Crude and unfair’ CAO system must change, say school principalsOpens in new window ]

“Currently, universities offer places without knowing anything about the student beyond their exam results, which can lead to mismatches between students and courses, and contribute to high dropout rates,” says Crone.

Indeed, in most conversations with teachers and student representatives, there’s more concern about reforming college admissions than there is around senior cycle reform.

Humphrey Jones is a career guidance counsellor at St Columba’s College, a fee-charging school in south Dublin where about half of their graduates go to third-level outside of Ireland.

“The reason for this is that the Irish system is blind to their external, non-academic achievements,” he says. “Outside of Ireland, you are more than just a number, but also recognised for your athletic abilities, for instance, or your musical skills.”

Mark Boobyer, the school’s headmaster, says the CAO’s “blind and unbiased” metric becomes meaningless with grade inflation, as the ability to differentiate between top students is lost.

So, what would an alternative college entry system look like for Ireland, and could it work?

Here are four different admission pathways; each as its advantages and disadvantages.

China and South Korea: the ‘big test’ or National University Entrance Exam model

Prof Graeme Atherton, director of the UK’s National Education Opportunities Network, is based in the Univeristy of West London.

In his research, he has identified the four main entry pathways to third-level used across the world.

The first of these is a national university entrance exam.

“In China, South Korea and some other countries, admission to third-level is based on one university entrance exam,” he says.

“The Korean Suneung, for instance, is an eight-hour exam with back-to-back papers in six sections.

“Schooling in these countries is heavily focused on preparing you for the test. Planes stop flying across Seoul to minimise disruption to students. It is really high-pressured and has led to some young people taking their own lives.”

Similar models tend to be used in other larger countries, including Japan, Mexico, Turkey and the United States.

Netherlands and Germany: higher education as a right

Liveline host Joe Duffy says that it’s his preferred model: secure the minimum entry requirements and be guaranteed a third-level place. Students are usually assessed via a combination of five to eight final exams.

It may sound fanciful to Irish ears, but it’s common across Europe, says Guy Flouche, director of Eunicas, which assists Irish students moving abroad to study.

Could it work in Ireland?

“No,” says Flouche. “These countries have been building third-level capacity for years, but we are coming to it quite late.”

Jones says that in the Dutch model anyone who gets the minimum entry requirements can go to third-level.

“They work them hard in the first year, but it’s becoming popular with Irish students due to the lower cost of living, easy flights, higher university rankings,” he says. “Irish students, who come from a pressurised system here, tend to do well there.”

But the lower entry bar can create its own problems.

“The French baccalaureate allows people who qualify to go to third-level, and it is symbolically important to France,” says Atherton. “The problem is that, if it’s easy to get in, lots of people drop out, and this can be costly.”

Similar models are used in Czechia, Germany and Lithuania.

Colombia and Iceland: the university-driven model

In this model, universities set their own entrance exams in some or all subject disciplines, but the school exam results are also taken into account, says Atherton.

There is no automatic right to college entry, and the university entrance exam is the primary selection mechanism and in some countries these differ from institution to institution.

Similar models are in place in Switzerland, Greece, Italy, Portal and Spain.

Ireland and the UK: subject-based exams

Here, students take a variety of senior cycle subjects, with their grades having the decisive impact on their college course.

“In reality, these are de facto university entrance exams,” says Atherton. “What makes Ireland different is the conversion of grades to points.

“In England, A-levels are converted to UCAS points, but it’s really the grades that matter. Students receive contingent offers [based on predicted grades], which does make us an outlier.

“Students might also submit a personal statement, but how much it matters varies: ultimately, if demand for the course exceeds supply, it will matter less than the grades.

Atherton says Ireland’s system is high-pressured, but that the Hear and Dare programmes – which, respectively, provide significant assistance to students from disadvantaged backgrounds and to disabled students – are commendable and relatively rare.

“Most European countries have quite defined vocational and academic progression routes, but this is not as evident in Ireland,” he says.

Atherton says that there can be reticence to change complex admission systems and that in Ireland and the UK, universities have more autonomy.

“Autonomous systems are more driven by student demand than the demands of the economy. But ultimately, if we change admission systems, we also need to consider how we examine students at the end of their schooling. Do we want a ‘big test’ model? Should universities have a more general first year? All of these issues have to be considered.”