New application and selection procedures for H Dip courses could pave the way for the introduction of a CAO-type system for entry to taught postgraduate programmes. Currently graduates have to apply to the individual colleges for each course. UCD meanwhile, is considering the introduction of a central applications system for its postgrad courses, according to Professor Brian McKenna, the university's dean of postgraduate studies. The new system of processing applications for H Dip courses in the four NUI universities will be in place this autumn for entry in 1999. The system could be extended to include other courses and other colleges. It was back in the Seventies that the universities handed over their undergraduate application and selection procedures to the CAO. The system has worked well and has made life easier for both colleges and applicants. The Galway-based Postgraduate Applications Centre, which is a private company limited by guarantee, has been set up to process all 1999 H Dip applications to the NUI universities - that is Dublin, Cork, Maynooth and Galway. TCD however, has opted to maintain its own apply-direct and interview system. The numbers applying for postgrad courses have grown enormously in recent years. H Dip courses, where the intake is capped by the Government, are highly sought after. Processing a deluge of applications is arduous and colleges often have to fend off attempts at lobbying. "The number of applications has been growing and processing them was becoming demanding," confirms NUI Maynooth's professor of education, John Coolahan. "A few weeks ago I signed 1,000 letters telling people that they had not obtained places on the H Dip. I personally will be pleased not to have to do that in the future." LOBBYING on the part of politicians for places for constituents is commonplace, although it occurs less often now than it did a few years ago, he says. "We write back and explain the system and we hear no more," he notes. "I look forward to the anonymity of the new system." Under the new system points will be allocated to each qualification - so many for a first class degree, something less for a second and so on. Postgrad qualifications and teaching experience will also gain applicants extra points. "The system will be totally transparent," explains Seamus Mac An Ri, who is the centre's project co-ordinator, "and the points will be made public so that people qualifying will know what their qualifications count for." The application form is similar to that of the CAO. Applicants should list their courses in order of preference. H Dip applications will be invited in September and should be returned during October - earlier than usual - according to Mac An Ri. The application fee is £40.

The centre expects to process up to 2,500 applications in its first year. "At the moment 5,000 applications are made to NUI colleges for H Dip courses, but since people are applying to each college directly, they are making multiple applications," Coolahan notes. Should colleges decide to use the central applications system for other courses they can apply to the centre's board. "It's my hunch that the system will expand," Coolahan says. "I personally would like to see a mini-CAO system for postgraduate courses," adds UCD's McKenna. "At UCD we deal with thousands of applications every year. A lot of people applying for H Dips have second preferences in other subjects. A centralised system would give them the opportunity to make multiple applications simultaneously."