“Trinity College Dublin appears to have benefitted from a ‘Normal People bounce’ after it recorded its highest number of college applicants this year. Students have made more than 40,000 applications to study courses at Trinity through the Central Applications Office (CAO) system, an 11% increase on last year …” (more)
[Carl O’Brien, Irish Times, 10 July]
“Points for medicine and other elite courses look set to rise in the wake of the cancellation of the Leaving Cert. The loss of the traditional State exam may have driven school-leavers to aim higher in their college choices …” (more)
[Katherine Donnelly, Independent, 9 July]
“College applications for high-points courses such as law, veterinary medicine, dentistry and physiotherapy are up significantly this year, as students flock towards areas of study with strong job prospects. By contrast, the number of students applying for courses in areas such as arts, humanities and languages are down again this year …” (more)
[Carl O’Brien, Irish Times, 8 July]
“CAO applicants must think beyond first-year when making their choices, advises Dr Derek O’Byrne, Registrar at WIT. The challenge now for future freshers is to get their CAO order of preference right by 5.15 pm on 1 July 2020, Dr O’Byrne warns …” (more)
[Education Matters, 26 June]
“Leaving Cert students who wish to receive a calculated grade will be required to ‘opt in’ online next month in advance of results being issued. More than 60,000 students have already registered with a student portal and they will be contacted directly when it is time to indicate if they wish to opt-in to receive their calculated grades. A department spokesman said this is due to take place in July …” (more)
[Carl O’Brien, Irish Times, 25 June]
“The Irish Universities Association (IUA) joins with the National University of Ireland (NUI), the Technological Higher Education Association (THEA), and the Technological University Dublin on an agreed common approach in relation to students who have studied Leaving Certificate 2020 subjects outside school and who have not been able to obtain calculated grades in those subjects …” (more)
[IUA, 25 June]
“‘Teachers will predict the grades of their own students and there will be no Leaving Cert exam’ – if you’d suggested this at the start of 2020, teachers, unions, parents, students and the Department of Education would have assumed you were sleep-talking through a far-fetched Leaving Cert dream …” (more)
[Peter McGuire, Irish Times, 23 June]
“There is no other country in the world where the final exam at second level dominates public discourse as much as in Ireland. Newspapers analyse why a certain poet did or did not appear on a particular paper while talk radio can guarantee to get listeners going by mentioning any possible changes …” (more)
[Malcolm Byrne, Irish Times, 23 June]
“Matt Shanahan (Waterford, Independent): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of students that recently took their HPAT exams; his views on whether these exams took place in and around the time of the pre-examinations those students with an ambition to study medicine would have focused more on the HPAT than the pre-leaving certificate; his further views on whether these students are now at a distinct disadvantage in view of the recent announcement that their calculated grades will be partially based on those pre-results; his plans to provide equity for these students; and if he will make a statement on the matter …” (more)
[Dáil written answers, 9 June]
“Trinity will significantly drop the academic requirements for non-EU students next year in a bid to cushion the financial blow from the coronavirus, accepting some students whose predicted grades equate to just 80% of the CAO points required for their course, The University Times has learned …” (more)
[Aoife Kearins, University Times, 6 June]
“An ‘open the gates’ approach to third-level entry was considered as an alternative to this summer’s Leaving Cert, but the suggestion was dismissed over concerns it would lead to ‘significant’ drop-outs. Matriculation exams and SAT admissions tests were also considered as alternative routes to third level this year …” (more)
[Jess Casey, Irish Examiner, 4 June]
“I’m finalising my CAO course choices but strongly thinking of deferring going to college for a year in light of the disruption Covid-19 will have on lectures, clubs and societies and social life in general. Is this a good idea? Your dilemma is shared by tens of thousands of college applicants this year …” (more)
[Brian Mooney, Irish Times, 1 June]
“Sir, – Leaving Cert students who are contemplating their CAO forms at the moment will be grateful for the Change of Mind 2020 supplement and Brian Mooney’s advice about choosing your college course carefully (‘Decision time: what should you study?’, May 26th) …” (more)
[Mary Cannon, Irish Times, 30 May]
“Algorithms built on biased data can never be unbiased, and the recent decision to adjust grading for the Leaving Cert based on previous school performance will weigh heavily on DEIS students …” (more)
[Elaine Burke, Silicon Republic, 18 May]
“Sir, – What is evident from this Leaving Certificate fiasco is that we are stuck in a place where our entire educational system fails to work as a whole. Primary school teachers, through play and interaction, music, drama, the outdoors, among other things, do their best to instil the love of learning into our children. I believe we do this well and our children leave this system on a sound footing …” (more)
[Letters, Irish Times, 16 May]
“Dundalk IT President Dr Michael Mulvey has welcomed the greater clarity provided by the Government in relation to this year’s Leaving Cert. Dr Mulvey said it was still the institute’s hope of welcoming new students this September, subject to public health guidelines …” (more)
[Talk of the Town, 11 May]
“The decision to cancel this year’s Leaving Certificate examinations has prompted debate over the ‘calculated grades’ method for grading students’ performance and results. Two secondary-school teachers set out their positions on a contentious matter …” (more)
[Irish Examiner, 8 May]
“Although it means that politicians won’t get to send their annual tweet wishing students well in the leaving certificate and radio stations will lose a month of content from disgruntled parents, students and those with no affiliation to the exams whatsoever ringing in to complain about it, the decision taken by the government today to cancel the leaving certificate exams and replace them with calculated grades has been painted by the media as one of relief for students …” (more)
[Aoife Kearins, University Times, 8 May]
“Students who start college next year but get an improved course offer after appeal will remain eligible for ‘free fees’ and SUSI grants as if they were starting college for the first time, under new government arrangements for the leaving certificate …” (more)
[Sárán Fogarty, University Times, 8 May]
“Trinity has said that it is ‘too early to say’ when first-year students will be admitted to College in the next academic year, after the government’s reconfiguration of the leaving certificate was confirmed today …” (more)
[Cormac Watson, University Times, 8 May]
