Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 15 September 2022
273. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the reason that a student (details supplied) who achieved 31 points more than their first choice for college was not offered any course in the first round of offers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45394/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraHigher Education Institutions determine their own procedures for admission. The CAO process applications for undergraduate, and some postgraduate, courses on their behalf.
Decisions on admissions are made by the Higher Education Institutions 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 and it is not within my remit to intervene in individual cases.
If an applicant achieves the necessary points for a course but does not receive an offer this is either because they did not attain the minimum entry requirements for that course, or because an error in their CAO application such as a missing exam number prevented their Leaving Certificate results from being associated with their CAO application.
Where the CAO is notified of an error in an application after Round One offers have issued, they update the account information and ask the higher education institutions to consider them for Round Two. The higher education institutions will then do their best to accommodate applicants with offers in the next available round. It is vital that the CAO is informed of such an error as quickly as possible.
I appreciate that it can be quite upsetting for an applicant to realise their examination information was incorrect, and it is my understanding that every effort is made by CAO and the higher education institutions to facilitate such applicants in the next round of offers.
If the issue is not resolved the applicant’s satisfaction, the option to appeal is available. The CAO has an Independent Appeals Commission, to which recourse may be had by applicants who believe that they have been treated unfairly by CAO, and whose complaints have not been resolved by CAO. The function of the Appeals Commission is to ensure that the rules are applied fairly.
