Colleges explore quota to boost student numbers from North following drop-off in numbers

Universities are exploring ways of boosting the number of students from Northern Ireland attending college in the Republic following alarm over a drop-off in numbers.

Ideas under consideration include a quota of places set aside for students from the North who accept college places on a deferred basis or moves to boost A-level results in line with Leaving Cert grades.

A combination of factors are making it increasingly difficult for students to access courses south of the Border, such as the way A-level results are converted into CAO points and the later release of college offers in the Republic.

Latest CAO figures show a 15 per cent year-on-year drop to 1,200 in the number of applicants with A-level results from Northern Ireland.

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Orla Sheils, vice-provost of Trinity College Dublin, said it was examining a number of proposals to try to accommodate students from the North.

“We’re well aware Northern Ireland students are currently disadvantaged, both because of the timing of the Leaving Cert results and subsequent CAO offers and by the disparity in grades, given A level grades have reverted to pre-pandemic levels,” she said. “We are planning an expanded deferral quota to be accessed exclusively by Northern Ireland students to try to accommodate these students.”

This could, for example, make it easier for students in the North to defer taking up a college place, which is currently allowed on a limited basis.

Another senior academic, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the idea of applying an equivalent inflation to A-level grades was being examined, but may face legal obstacles.

The Irish Universities Association recently expressed concern over the trends and called on the Department of Education to outline “clearly how they will end grade inflation in Leaving Cert results” to help rebalance A-level equivalence to Leaving Cert points.

Without real cross-Border co-operation and a commitment to reforming Leaving Cert exam results time frames, it warned that any “real progress will remain hampered”.

A spokesman for Minister for Further and Higher Education Simon Harris said he was aware of the challenges. “The Minister is dedicated to finding ways on how we can further develop and support education on an all-island basis,” he said.

An ESRI report on student mobility in Northern Ireland, to be published later this month, is expected to show the extent to which the flow of student numbers south of the Border has declined over the last decade.

The research forms part of a broader “Shared Island” programme, in conjunction with the Department of the Taoiseach.

Sinn Féin representatives recently wrote to Mr Harris to highlight the “incredibly difficult” barriers and called for A-level qualifications to be placed on an equal footing to the Leaving Cert.

Mairéad Farrell, the party’s higher education spokeswoman, said: “It is imperative that the Minister tackle this issue as it is a matter of equity of access and fairness.”