“We see in some jurisdictions where word of mouth or people you know can influence the process,” said Lawless. “The CAO is a mathematical, computer-based process. It is not perfect, but it is extremely fair.”
Following the release of CAO Round One offers, Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science James Lawless addressed the media, including The College Tribune, at Government Buildings on Wednesday afternoon.
Of the 62,166 CAO applicants who received Level 8 offers, 48% were offered their first-choice course, while 76% received an offer for one of their top three choices.
Minister Lawless began by congratulating the applicants on receiving their offers, while also empathising with those who did not receive their preferred course of study. “There are many pathways out there; This is the start of another direction”, he stressed.
On high-points courses, the Minister said there had been “some moderation” in the concentration of courses requiring top marks. As an example, Lawless pointed to Dentistry – or Dental Science, as it is known at Trinity College Dublin (TCD) – which was the only course at the 625-point threshold to use “random selection” to allocate places for the upcoming academic year. However, he stressed that applicants who achieved maximum points and hoped to study dentistry would still have opportunities to pursue the discipline through courses at University College Cork (UCC) and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), neither of which used random selection.
The Minister also affirmed the government’s creation of a further 2,600 healthcare places in colleges across the country, stating that his department is “creating more courses, creating more opportunities”.
The Central Applications Office (CAO) process, which has been in place for more than 25 years in Ireland, was praised by Lawless as a “fair” and “independent” process that has worked “reasonably well” during its lifetime.
“We see in some jurisdictions where word of mouth or people you know can influence the process. The CAO is a mathematical computer-based process. It is not perfect, but it is extremely fair.”
While a promise for reform of the CAO process was included in the Programme for Government, Lawless declined to give details of any changes that could be introduced in subsequent CAO cycles.
“It’s no secret that I have begun an examination of the broad education, the idea of creating more avenues into education, more foundational modules in first year and moving on to more specialist options in second year and beyond,” he said. “I think that there’s work we can do, but we’re already doing that, the likes of the tertiary degree”.
“There are many pathways through the system. That is a significant reform already,” Lawless stated.
Before the Minister spoke to the media, a number of groups had criticised the CAO points system. Among them was the Children’s Rights Alliance, whose Chief Executive Tanya Ward described the Leaving Certificate and CAO process as a time of “stomach-curdling dread”. Ward also said the system creates a “pressure-cooker effect” for students.
In response, Minister Lawless said he was cognisant of such groups and their concerns, and invited them to reach out to him and his department. “I’m aware of a number of organisations that have made calls for reform, and I invite those organisations to correspond with me”.
“It’s not so much the CAO process; it’s what it’s used for afterwards that creates the pressure point,” the Minister added.
“The actual system of examination, of adjudication, continued assessments, and the transparency and independence of it all we should value, something that is strong and proven the test of time. The Leaving Cert is respected internationally for decades, and that is a good thing that we should preserve and respect.”
Lawless also remarked upon the actions of his department to make attending college a more affordable prospect for students: “Last year, I increased the maintenance grants, particularly focusing on those students who lived more than 30km away from home, so the ones that had to commute or had to rent accommodation.”
“I also increased the thresholds so that families on up to €120,000 income are now eligible for Susi support. That’s a record high,” Lawless said.
However, he caveated his remarks with a reference to the upcoming budget: “Ultimately, like every other minister going into the budget process, we know it’s going to be a tough budget this year.”
During his appearance before the media, Lawless also answered several questions on issues outside of his own department.
Chief among them was the denial of long-stay study visas for several Palestinian students from Gaza, despite the students winning fully funded scholarships to Irish universities. The Irish Immigration Service has issued refusals based on a number of rules, such as “Intent to Return”, and missing paperwork for the students. Critics of the refusals say that the requirements expected are impossible for students in a war zone to meet.
In response to questioning, Lawless said he was “very mindful” of the students who have received refusals, and the “people of Gaza in general”. Reiterating the government’s support for Palestinian statehood, he stated that his “officials and team are engaged with great intensity with the Department of Justice on the issue”.
When asked about the current standoff between criminal defence solicitors and the Department of Justice over a new flat-fee payment scheme for criminal legal aid, the Minister pledged his “full support” to Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan and his handling of the situation.
Harry O’Leary – News Co-Editor