More than 1,000 new CAO places to be created to ease points race

The Government is expected to approve more than 1,000 additional college places this month that aim to take some of the heat out of the CAO points race.

The places will be targeted in areas such as medicine, nursing, healthcare, social care, engineering and courses relating to climate change.

The Irish Times reported last month that internal Government records acknowledged that points requirements for college courses were “highly likely” to be similar to last year’s record levels with many places on high-demand courses set to be decided on the basis of random selection.

Government sources are hopeful that the additional places could ease some of the upwards points pressure in courses where additional places are being provided and, in particular, reduce the chances of random selection.

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There is pressure on CAO points this year due mainly to two factors: the Government’s decision to ensure Leaving Cert students’ grades “no lower” than last year, as well as high numbers of college applicants which are close to last year’s record number of applicants.

Last year saw a sharp increase in the use of random selection – essentially a lottery system – to award high-demand college places in courses such as medicine, health sciences, commerce and engineering.

For example, just more than 40 per cent of college courses that required 550 points or more used random selection last year. Some students who received the maximum points possible – 625 – ended up losing out on their first-choice college places last year after places were awarded this way.

The Department of Further and Higher Education has been in talks with the university sector over boosting the capacity of individual courses.

Minister Simon Harris is expected to bring proposals to Government in June to increase the number of places in higher education. These places will be targeted at areas of significant demand, but also where there are skills shortages.

A similar decision last year to create thousands of extra college places resulted in a sharp drop in the number of school-leavers choosing further education and training courses.

However, Government sources say the targeted nature of this year’s additional places aims to lessen this impact.

CAO points for courses rose to record levels in 2021 due to a combination of strong grades and high numbers of applications. However, the creation of additional places meant the proportion of applicants who received one of their top three offers, overall, remained broadly steady.

Earlier this year, Minister for Education Norma Foley’s announced that the grade profile for this year’s Leaving Cert results will be “no lower” than last year on foot of calls from students who worried that they would be disadvantaged in the hunt for college places compared with the previous year’s cohort of students.

The Leaving Cert exams, meanwhile, are due to get under way for about 60,000 students on Wednesday.

A date for the release of results is expected soon, once officials begin to get a sense of the likely demand for a second set of deferred exams, which take place between June 30th and July 12th.

Universities have expressed frustration at the late announcement which, they say, is hindering planning.

These deferred exams are aimed at students who develop Covid-19, who are bereaved or who develop a serious medical condition.

Students who develop Covid-19 or symptoms of the disease will be subject to a mandatory eight-day absence from the exams, under rules announced by the State Examinations Commission.

These Covid-affected students will be eligible to sit deferred exams which begin on June 30th and are provisionally due to finish on July 16th.

The rules are contained in guidance circulated to schools, which include eligibility criteria for the deferred sittings of Leaving Cert exams for students with Covid, those who are bereaved during the exams or who develop a serious medical condition.

In the case of Covid-19-affected students, the system will rely on students declaring or self-certifying that they have the disease or symptoms.