Universities have backed major reforms to the leaving certificate, including a significant increase in continuous assessment and systems to stabilise exam results from year to year.
Jim Miley, the director general of the Irish Universities Association (IUA), told the Oireachtas Education Committee today that grade inflation could be tackled by introducing “an agreed and stable grade distribution model”.
The IUA proposed a “more equitable” leaving certificate, which would allow all students to reach their full potential, a broader range of assessment methods, greater stability in leaving certificate results from year to year and earlier publication of results.
The committee heard that Ireland is exceptional by European standards in the late marking and release of results. In England, A-Level results are released in July.
The IUA proposed that CAO results be released by June 30th, instead of the usual August.
CAO results were not released until September 3rd this year. Trinity freshers did not begin their studies until September 27 as a result. Results are normally released in mid-August but this changed due to the introduction of predicted grades during the pandemic.
Miley said that with more continuous assessment, coursework could be corrected throughout the course of the year, which would make for a quicker marking process in the summer.
Earlier release of CAO results would afford students greater time to find accommodation and prepare adequately for college life, he said.
On the annual “points race”, Miley said that “the points system has been designed on the basis of stable grades but the COVID-induced changes over the last two years have de-stabilised the results trend. In 2019, 207 students achieved a maximum score of six H1 grades. In 2021, this had grown to 1,342 students, an increase of over 600 per cent”.
“This has distorted the entry threshold to third level with a particular inequity to applicants presenting results from earlier years”, he said.
To tackle this problem, the IUA is proposing that “the system reverts immediately to an agreed and stable grade distribution model, which would ensure that the Leaving Certificate results can continue to serve as the mainstream selection mechanism for entry into Irish higher Education”.
It is also proposing more continuous assessment, phased in over the course of three years, preferably starting in 2022.
Miley added: “It is critically important that the reform is student-centric. The leaving cert should be fair and equitable, recognising the difference in learning style and capacity of students. It must also address the accepted challenges for students in terms of stress and mental well-being and optimise the pathways to career or further study for students of all abilities.”
