New gateways to college and alternatives to the current CAO points system need to be explored fully, the Provost of TCD Dr Patrick Prendergast has said.
Addressing a major conference on undergraduate admissions he said his major complaint about the points system was that it remained the only gateway to college.
Dr Prendergast identified three major problems with the current system based on points secured in the Leaving Cert .
These were ;
*The right student is not always matched to the right course;
*The failure to inspire some students from rote learning to critical thinking;
* The fact that colleges are missing out on students who could thrive but whose abilities are not captured by a points-totals.
He said the education system needs to provide other access routes for students whose potential is not captured by the Leaving Certificate. But it had done nothing fundamental about university admissions for decades, he acknowledged.
He said the current points system had many merits, chiefly its transparency in a small country where personal and family networks are so important.
The core difficulty with the system was the mismatch which can occur between students and courses.
“Courses get identified with points – so for instance because medicine is 600 plus points, then students gaining high points may feel their ‘fit’ is medicine even though they have greater aptitude for, and love of, say, the classics. “Don't waste your points”, is a phrase often heard. Students - only 17 to 18 year olds remember – are subject to many pressures, including societal pressures valuing some kinds of knowledge over others. ’’
He pointed out how a ten-year analysis of Trinity engineering students reveals that high overall points don't measure aptitude for the subject. “Students with low overall CAO points but good achievement in certain subjects do better than those with high points but poor achievement in certain subjects. We should take these findings very seriously – they point to the need for a much more nuanced entry system. ’’
The provost described the points system as “ a bit of a blunt instrument’’ which “doesn't take into account significant individuality, nor does it allow for the fact that different universities seek different attributes from students.’’
The system he said also gave an undue priority to rote learning.
“Now I don't want to be perjorative here: memory, of course, is crucial to intellect. But in university students need other skills. So a lot of time is spent in the first year inspiring students with the new approach to learning. ’’
“So I'm not against rote-learning per se; Even in the internet age, there is still no substitute for carrying knowledge in your head. But it's only one aspect of learning, so it shouldn't be given so much emphasis.’’
He also described how colleges are missing out on students who would have the ability to thrive here – academically and socially – but whose abilities are not being properly captured in a crude points total.
“These students are being failed by the system – in some cases they're not finding their place on any third-level course. This is a shocking waste of potential, and it's deeply unfair to the individual. ’’
