Earlier this month, Minister for Education Norma Foley put the issue of the leaving certificate to bed. Today it reared up again and has potentially destabilised the third-level sector once again.
Speaking on the day of the issuing of CAO offers to over 60,000 students, she remarked: “I do believe what has been created is the fairest possible solution given the extraordinary circumstances in which we find ourselves as we journey together through the Covid-19 pandemic.”
Foley told prospective college students to “look forward with courage to the next exciting phase of your lives”.
The issue of the leaving certificate, cancelled due to the pandemic, mired her department in contention and public dissatisfaction. The government bowed to pressure from students to replace written exams with predicted – or “calculated”, as the department insisted – grades, but when it became apparent that a similar system in the UK was close to abysmal, students started to worry.
Now, the months of uncertainty, including last-minute changes to the grading system and a painfully dragged out issuing of results and offers, still aren’t over.
The minister announced this afternoon that errors in the coding used to calculate students’ grades resulted in around 6,500 students receiving a lower grade than they should have. In the coming days, many of these students will have their CAO points adjusted and may be entitled to places in courses which were higher up on their CAO form – which could create a major headache for colleges.
The process of calculating grades – which was plagued with controversy throughout the summer – incorporated students’ junior certificate grades, Foley said at a press briefing today. It was intended that a student’s “core” subjects – English, Irish and maths – as well as their two highest non-core subjects would be used to determine their Leaving Certificate grades. Instead, students’ two weakest subjects were used.
A second error in this process saw the inclusion of a student’s Civic, Social and Political Education (CSPE) grade, when this subject was supposed to be excluded for the purpose of calculating grades.
Many students who have been through the Irish education system will tell you that CSPE is rarely on the list of subjects they are determined to ace. The inclusion of a student’s strongest two junior certificate subjects was, presumably, a way to give them a fair crack at the whip, but this error has resulted in the precise opposite of its intended effect.
An error in just one line of coding, which was identified by Polymetricka International Inc, a Canadian firm which was involved in the grading process, could result in even more court cases on top of the handful that students and schools have already taken over grades which they feel are not a fair reflection of a student’s capability. Foley’s talk of “processes” and “special helplines” will probably do little to quell students’ frustration.
Foley stressed at the briefing that “the error will not disadvantage any student” – those who would have received lower grades had the error not occurred will not see a reduction in their CAO points. Essentially, if they have secured a place in college, they will be allowed to stay there, even if they would not have received an offer if these errors had not occurred.
The minister said she understood that the Taoiseach was made aware of the situation last Wednesday afternoon, and that it was decided to gather as much information as possible about the errors made.
That the minister waited a week to make this error public will raise some eyebrows – by now, most first years have registered for college and have paid fees or rent, so changing course now will bring considerable hassle.
Foley said students who are entitled to a higher-preference CAO offer will receive that offer, and they will be offered a place on that course for this academic year “where at all possible”.
This calls into question how universities will deal with an influx of students who are entitled to a space in a higher-preference course than the offer they originally received.
Third-level institutions will not be eager – if even capable – to add dozens of new places to high-demand courses such as medicine. Sources told the Irish Times that such courses are full, with no capacity for additional students for the coming academic year.
Indeed, the subject of creating additional places has already proved confusing and messy. Trinity’s Schools of Medicine and Dentistry said earlier this month that they would not be offering extra places for incoming freshers, despite the government announcing 1,250 additional CAO places for “high demand” courses such as medicine, law, and engineering.
Trinity has already said it will try its best to find places for leaving certificate students who were incorrectly graded under the calculated grades system if the government fully funds them. Other universities will likely also play the funding card in the coming days.
This latest slip up in the Department of Education comes on the back of a rake of other issues with the calculated grades system, some of which have resulted in students and schools taking a case in the High Court. The courts have ruled that anyone who is upgraded on foot of an error should be guaranteed access to their preferred college place in the same academic year.
Foley’s tenure as Minister for Education has so far been marred by the leaving certificate. Today’s announcement seems to indicate that the drama is far from over.
