As the Deputy will be aware, the European Schools is a group of thirteen co-educational schools established at various locations in the EU to serve the needs of children whose parents are officials of the EU Commission, European Parliament and other official European organisations. The schools have been established by an intergovernmental treaty — the Convention of the European Schools — to which Ireland is a signatory. In accordance with this Convention, Irish universities recognise the European Baccalaureate for the purposes of admission to their courses and programmes.
I can confirm that issues have been raised with my Department, by the parents of students attending the European Schools, regarding the equivalence of the European Baccalaureate qualification with the Leaving Certificate for the purposes of entry to university courses in Ireland. Issues in relation to admission to university and the evaluation of the qualifications of prospective students are matters that are determined by the universities, not by my Department. In accordance with this, the issues raised in the correspondence from the parents have been referred to the Irish Universities Association (IUA). The IUA is the representative body of the Heads of the seven Irish universities and is the appropriate authority to respond to the issues as they relate to the collective policies of the Irish university sector regarding admission requirements.
My officials wrote to the IUA asking that the matter be reviewed in full and have also met with the IUA on a number of occasions. My Department has also liaised with the Bureau of the European Schools in Brussels so that any relevant material regarding the European Baccalaureate examination and certification required by the IUA, for the purposes of the review, could be provided.
A table was received from the IUA on Monday, 12 February 2007 which presents their initial conclusion that it is difficult to argue that holders of the European Baccalaureate are not given equitable treatment regarding entry to Irish universities. The table of comparison between the European Baccalaureate and Irish Leaving Certificate results provided by the IUA is set out below. The IUA has advised my officials that a fuller report will be made available on the matter in due course.
Comparison of available data between European Baccalaureat and Irish Leaving Certificate results during the period 2003-2005 shows that a greater overall proportion of EB students achieve grades of 90% or above than LC students (A1 and A2 grades), and significantly greater proportions of EB students achieve grades of 75% or above. Furthermore, given the additional weighting of 6.25% applied by the NUI universities and DCU to all EB scores of 90% and above, it is difficult to argue that EB holders are not being given equitable treatment regarding entry to Irish universities.
|
EB grade (%)
|
Multiple applied1 to calculate CAO points
|
CAO points score
|
% range EB
|
2002-2005 average EB results2
|
% range CAO Points
|
2003-2005 average LC results3
|
|
60
|
Multiplier of 6
|
360
|
|
|
|
|
|
61
|
|
366
|
|
|
|
|
|
62
|
|
372
|
|
|
|
|
|
63
|
|
378
|
|
|
|
|
|
64
|
|
384
|
60-64.99%
|
10.1%
|
|
|
|
65
|
|
390
|
|
|
|
|
|
66
|
|
396
|
|
|
350-399
|
13%
|
|
67
|
|
402
|
|
|
|
|
|
68
|
|
408
|
|
|
|
|
|
69
|
|
414
|
65-69.99%
|
16.9%
|
|
|
|
70
|
|
420
|
|
|
|
|
|
71
|
|
426
|
|
|
|
|
|
72
|
|
432
|
|
|
|
|
|
73
|
|
438
|
|
|
|
|
|
74
|
|
444
|
70-74.99%
|
21.4%
|
400-449
|
11.7%
|
|
75
|
|
450
|
|
|
|
|
|
76
|
|
456
|
|
|
|
|
|
77
|
|
462
|
|
|
|
|
|
78
|
|
468
|
|
|
|
|
|
79
|
|
474
|
75-79.99%
|
18.9%
|
|
|
|
80
|
|
480
|
|
|
|
|
|
81
|
|
486
|
|
|
|
|
|
82
|
|
492
|
|
|
|
|
|
83
|
|
498
|
|
|
450-499
|
8.9%
|
|
84
|
|
504
|
80-84.99%
|
16.0%
|
|
|
|
85
|
Multiplier of 6
|
510
|
|
|
|
|
|
86
|
|
516
|
|
|
|
|
|
87
|
|
522
|
|
|
|
|
|
88
|
|
528
|
|
|
|
|
|
89
|
|
534
|
85-89.99%
|
10.7%
|
500-549
|
5.2%
|
|
90
|
Multiplier of 6.25
|
562.5
|
|
|
|
|
|
91
|
|
568.75
|
|
|
|
|
|
92
|
|
575
|
|
|
|
|
|
93
|
|
581.25
|
|
|
|
|
|
94
|
|
587.5
|
90-94.99%
|
3.8%
|
|
|
|
95
|
|
593.75
|
|
|
|
|
|
96
|
|
600
|
95% +
|
0.2%
|
550-600
|
2.5%4
|
1By NUI Constituent Universities and DCU since 2005
2Data taken from memorandum provided by "Irish Parents Group of Brussels and Luxembourg European Schools", April 2006, Table 4 (appendix 7, p.37)
3Data taken from www.cao.ie, Leaving Certificate Points statistics for 2003, 2004, 2005
42.5% — this covers the full range of CAO points from 550-600.
