Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 September 2021
445. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the measures that will be put in place to ensure students will not be disadvantaged in 2022 by grade inflation (details supplied) in 2021; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44435/21]
View answer460. Deputy Noel Grealish asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he will take steps to further increase the number of places on courses in third-level institutions for 2022; his views on whether the leaving certificate grade inflation that occurred in 2021 will have a knock-on impact on the points required for courses in 2022 putting the 2022 leaving certificate examination students at a disadvantage vis-à-vis students from 2021 competing for places on those courses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44989/21]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 445 and 460 together.
Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are autonomous and manage their own academic affairs including admissions procedures. The CAO process applications for undergraduate courses on behalf of the HEIs. Decisions on admissions are made by the HEIs who then instruct the CAO to make offers to successful candidates. Neither I nor my Department have a role in the operation of the CAO.
The CAO system is a system that works on the assumption that grades obtained in the Leaving Certificate by candidates determine their points. It is on this basis that the CAO system allocates places to applicants including those from different years. To ensure impartiality, the automatic CAO points systems have been created in a way that does not allow for different treatment to be applied to different sub-groups.
Ultimately, the Leaving Certificate results in any given year have the same status as any other Leaving Certificate as a measure of attainment at the end of Senior Cycle. To alter or revise the results of any particular Leaving Certificate cohort after the fact would undermine this principle.
It is our understanding that adjustments will be made to the 2022 Leaving Certificate examinations which are similar to those published in December 2020 in respect of Leaving Certificate 2021. The adjustments are outlined in Assessment Arrangements for Junior and Leaving Certificate 2022, which is available on www.gov.ie/leavingcertificate. These adjustments were made in recognition of fact students who are due to take their Leaving Certificate examinations in 2022 have experienced a degree of disruption to their learning.
In 2020 and 2021, in recognition of the challenging circumstances these cohorts faced during their Leaving Certificate year, my Department worked with the HEA and the Higher Education Institutions to identify where additional places could be provided in the higher education system. It is my intention that future growth in higher education is planned on a strategic basis that aligns demand for places and the provision of places in an efficient and effective manner consistent with the objectives of the Higher Education Strategy, while reflecting broad skills and human capital requirements for the economy and for society.
