Ninth Level Ireland

“The likely creation of significant additional higher education places for students denied college entry due to errors in Leaving Cert calculations will make an already bad lecturer:student ratio even worse and undermine the credibility of higher education delivery, the Irish Federation of University Teachers (IFUT) has warned …” (more)

[IFUT, 1 September]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to provide further extra places on third-level first year courses in 2020 in view of the higher points achieved by students in the leaving certificate 2020 compared to previous years; and if he will make a statement on the matter …” (more)

[Written answers, 17 September]

“Almost £4 million is being provided to create extra university places following the cancellation of A-levels in Northern Ireland. This includes medical, nursing and midwifery courses, Finance Minister Conor Murphy said …” (more)

[Michael McHugh, Belfast Telegraph, 11 September]

“Since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in early March, the Higher Education Authority (HEA) has been working closely with Irish higher education institutions (HEIs) and their sectoral representative bodies (IUA, THEA) to both respond to immediate challenges of Covid-19 and to plan for the future …” (more)

[Maura O’Shea, HEA, 11 September]

“Trinity’s Schools of Medicine and Dentistry have said they will not be offering extra places for incoming freshers this year. Last week, the government announced 1250 additional CAO places for ‘high demand’ courses such as medicine, law, and engineering. Higher Education Minister Simon Harris today announced a further 800 places, following the announcement of the highest leaving certificate results in history on Monday …” (more)

[Emma Donohoe, University Times, 9 September]

“The number of CAO places being offered on Friday is to rise by a further 800 in the hope of calming the turbulence stirred up by the best Leaving Cert results in history. Further and Higher Education Minister Simon Harris confirmed the figure in the Dáil today …” (more)

[Katherine Donnelly, Independent, 9 September]

“The number of CAO places being offered on Friday is to rise by a further 500 in the hope of steadying the turbulence stirred up by the best Leaving Cert results in history. Medicine, nursing and business are among the areas where more places are expected to open , over and above what’s already been announced …” (more)

[Katherine Donnelly, Independent, 8 September]

“Minister for Further and Higher Education Simon Harris has said measures have been taken to provide additional college places, including 1,250 places in high demand courses, as course points are likely to rise this year …” (more)

[RTÉ News, 8 September]

“Earlier this year, Colr Farrell tabled a motion calling on the Economy Minister to ‘make the necessary adjustments to the Maximum Student Numbers for exclusive use in Derry to allow planned expansion to become a reality’ …” (more)

[Derry Journal, 1 September]

“Minister for Education Norma Foley TD has today, Tuesday 1 September, announced further details of the Calculated Grades model for Leaving Certificate 2020 and Minister for Further and Higher Education Research, Innovation and Science Simon Harris TD confirmed 1,250 additional higher education places to be offered on certain high-demand courses for the academic year 2020/21 …” (more)

[Department of Education and Skills, 1 September]

“The number of college places is to increase by more than a thousand this year with a particular focus on high-demand areas such as health and education. Under plans to be brought before Cabinet on Tuesday by Minister for Further and Higher Education Simon Harris, each third-level institution will receive a quota of additional places. This quota will be based on their most recent intake of undergraduates …” (more)

[Conor Gallagher and Carl O’Brien, Irish Times, 1 September]

“Minister for Higher Education Simon Harris is preparing a plan to increase the number of places in high-demand courses in an effort to ease pressure on college applicants, the Irish Times reported today …” (more)

[Sárán Fogarty, University Times, 28 August]

“Hundreds of additional college places in high-demand courses such as nursing, medicine, law, veterinary science and engineering are likely to be provided this year to help ease pressure on third-level applicants …” (more)

[Carl O’Brien, Irish Times, 28 August]

“The oversubscription to Ulster University and Queen’s due to this week’s A-Level u-turn could be eased by raising the Maximum Student Number (MaSN) cap and allocating more places to Magee …” (more)

[Kevin Mullan, Derry Journal, 21 August]

“Ulster University has confirmed that it is ‘actively preparing’ for additional student places on some of the most popular courses at its Magee campus. It comes after this week’s A-level results changes that mean many students will be awarded higher teacher assessed grades …” (more)

[Garrett Hargan, Derry Now, 20 August]

“The Stormont Economy Minister is facing calls to remove the cap on the number of students which Northern Ireland’s universities can accept. Trade union NIC ICTU has urged Diane Dodds to make the move after Education Minister Peter Weir reversed the decision which saw thousands of A-level grades reduced from teacher estimates …” (more)

[Rebecca Black, Belfast Telegraph, 19 August]

“Queen’s University Belfast is seeking ‘clarity as a matter of urgency’ after changes to A-level grades. The university warned it may need between 500 to 1,000 extra places to admit all affected students, at a cost of about £4,000 per student. Ulster University said it still had places available …” (more)

[Robbie Meredith, BBC News, 18 August]

“Queen’s University has asked how extra student places will be funded if substantial numbers are given improved A-level grades after a major U-turn by Education Minister Peter Weir. In a statement, the university stressed that it had ‘genuine capacity restrictions’ in terms of teaching space, staff and accommodation in light of Covid-19. It called for ‘clarity as a matter of urgency’ from Stormont …” (more)

[Suzanne Breen, Belfast Telegraph, 17 August]

“The creation of more places in highly contested university courses is being discussed by Irish universities and the Department of Education Minister for Further and Higher Education, Simon Harris, has said. Speaking earlier this week, Minister Harris voiced his confidence in the ongoing talks …” (more)

[Gemma Farrell, College Tribune, 14 August]

“Extra college places in Medicine and other hotly contested areas are on the agenda for discussion ahead of next month’s CAO Round 1 offers. Higher Education Minister Simon Harris confirmed today that more places are likely to open on some high demand university courses …” (more)

[Katherine Donnelly, Independent, 12 August]