They’re distraught and overwhelmed
CALCULATED GRADING SYSTEM ‘IS NOW AS FAIR AND ROBUST AS CAN BE’
MINISTER for Further Education Simon Harris has defended the calculated grades system that saw CAO points skyrocket.
Mr Harris said it was ‘the fairest it could be’ despite many students losing out – especially those in fee-paying schools – on college places.
‘It is not lost on me that we have put measures in place to protect those who are the most disadvantaged and, as a result, we are having questions about fee-paying schools that perhaps wouldn’t normally be asked during a Leaving Cert year.’
Mr Harris commended the Education Minister Norma Foley for her ‘brave’ decision to remove the school profiling element of the algorithm which resulted in a bigger inflation of the grades.
‘It is my view that this system is as fair and robust as it can be. Had we have left the school profiling element in, it may have made my job easier to do as the grades would be less inflated, but it would have been the wrong thing to do. What we did instead was increase the number of places.’
The minister acknowledged the grade inflation caused by the standardisation process – which left out a school’s past performance in determining grades – but added that his Department tried to reduce its impact.
Mr Harris said that more people will be accepted to college than in any previous year.
‘Overall this year we have 12% more places for higher education than we did last year,’ he said. ‘Last year 80% of applicants at Level 8 got an offer of their top three choices; the report this year is in line with that again, despite the different process.
‘The Level 6 and 7 top three offers is around 90%. That’s an increase compared to last year where 70% received an offer.’
He said that around 85% of previous years’ students received an offer in their top three choices. More than 19,000 students accepted offers in the hours after it was published.
‘This is a very big day in the lives of many students and their families across the country and many of them are delighted. I am also deeply conscience of the people who logged on and were disappointed,’ Mr Harris added.
The Wicklow TD shut down the idea of the calculated grades given to students being re-examined as it would result in the system ‘unravelling’.