With the Leaving Cert results due tomorrow, there is growing concern across the education sector about falling standards in maths and in science subjects.
As student demand continues to decline for degree courses in computers, science and technology, careers experts predict that students with fewer than 280 points will be able to secure places on some degree courses in this area.
In a separate development, the Minister for Education and Science, Mr Dempsey, has backed a radical reform plan for the Leaving Cert.
This will see a marked increase in the use of continuous assessment and project work, and less emphasis on the written exams in June. The Minister also wants to change the name of the exam to the "Senior Cert".
Leaving Cert results in maths and science subjects will be monitored carefully when the results become known from 8 a.m. tomorrow. Last year, 12 per cent of students failed ordinary level maths and one in five failed biology. High failure rates were also recorded in higher level biology (nine per cent ) and higher level physics (11 per cent).
Declining standards in maths and science subjects are seen as key factors which explain the high drop-out rate at third level.
Last year, over 30 per cent of UCD students failed first-year science or dropped out of the course before the summer exams.
The high failure rate came after UCD, in common with other third-level colleges, was forced to drop the Leaving Cert points requirement for science courses as student interest declined.
Some academics believe the points requirement for science should be increased to help raise standards. However, since the points must reflect the demand for the course and the number of spaces available, colleges are not free to do this.
Traditionally, science at UCD has required more points than arts, but this trend has reversed in recent years.
Last year, some students secured places in science on 280 CAO points, but over 370 points were needed for arts.
