Call for tougher Leaving Cert grading as university dropout rates climb

Some senior staff in Irish universities have called for a return to tougher Leaving Cert grading as student dropout rates climb upwards.

Grades to be released to 60,000 Leaving Cert students on Friday are expected to show a slight year-on-year fall in marks.

However, they will probably remain significantly higher than before the pandemic on foot of a Government commitment to ensure there is no “cliff-edge” drop in grades.

Leaving Cert grades surged in recent years due to Covid-era measures such as teacher-assessed grades, changes in assessment such as greater choice and “postmarking” interventions aimed at keeping grades higher than normal.

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While education authorities have indicated that a return to normal grade patterns may take a number of years, some university registrars want grades to return to normal much sooner.

Prof Pól Ó Dochartaigh, University of Galway’s deputy president and registrar, said artificially high grades have had unintended consequences.

“As we continue to inflate grades, we continue to suggest to some – who might not be at the standard required – that they should be going to university. At the centre of this are students. It is unfair because, in some cases, we are raising false expectations. We’re not being straight with them,” he said.

“There are signs that student dropout rates – which improved initially – are going back up to where they were before the pandemic ... It remains to be seen how long it will take for grades to return to their pre-pandemic norms. If it takes four or five more years, I think that will be a case of kicking the can down. A-level results [in the UK] are already, broadly, back to where they were before the pandemic.”

Another university registrar, who declined to be named, also called for grades to return to normal more quickly.

The registrar pointed out that inflated grades were making it harder to differentiate between top candidates for entry to courses with high points.

“It is about fairness to past and future students. Grade inflation takes years to wash out of the system. We’re also out of step with other jurisdictions, who have moved back to normal. It’s very unfair to students in Northern Ireland, for example, who are locked out of many courses here as a result,” the academic said.

Student dropout rates fell to a historic low in the first years of Covid as colleges moved to provide students with additional support.

However, the proportion of students failing to progress in their course has climbed back or slightly above the levels they were before the pandemic, according to several universities.

Some say dropout rates among first years have climbed from about 7 to 8 per cent n 2020 to between 14-15 per cent. In some individual courses, dropout rates are even higher.

While some academics say inflated grades may be a factor, others believe higher dropout rates are the result of a return to a post-Covid “status quo” and other pressures.

Prof Shane Kilcommins, provost and deputy president of University of Limerick, said: “My sense is that it [higher dropout rates] is to do with students not being able to find accommodation, working part-time and not engaging fully with the university; there are all sorts of reasons which may be outside their control”.

He said the late start to the academic year linked to the later release of Leaving Cert results – which meant students have missed out on vital orientation sessions – may also have unsettled students.

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“I don’t believe grade inflation is overly contributing to it, but there may be specific courses where a strong competency is required – mathematics or languages, for example – and if grade inflation is occurring there, it may impact on progress.”

Another registrar, who declined to be named, was also cautious about linking higher dropout rates to grade inflation.

“It is too early to tell, but our sense is that for most courses, it’s the same students accessing them; they’re just on higher points,” the registrar said. “It seems to be a return to the status quo, as well as challenges around accommodation, commuting and the late start to university. I would place those factors ahead of grade inflation.”