"Round two of CAO offers are out today and I suspect it'll be busy due to, what's this we're calling it, volatility in points for courses. Volatility, also known as a huge hike in points for the majority of degree courses in our top universities. Yes, the attempt at grade deflation didn't work to bring down course requirements, so we still saw kids with 625 points missing out on their first preferences while places were awarded by the random selection lottery."
"Firstly, the huge numbers of applicants in this year's biggest ever CAO pot; some of that's down to demographics and increasing population, but some is down to the fact that in that pot along with the 51,000 kids who sat this year's Leaving Cert and applied to the CAO there were also 20,000 who sat it in previous years, who - and this is the second reason - on average have one grade or 10 points higher overall than this year's crew."
Round two of CAO offers coincides with sharp volatility in course points, reflected in large hikes across many degree programmes at top universities. Attempts at grade deflation failed to reduce course requirements, resulting in students with 625 points missing first preferences while places were allocated by random selection. Two principal causes underlie the outcome: an unprecedented number of applicants in the CAO pool, partly driven by demographics and population growth; and a substantial cohort of around 20,000 previous-year candidates included in the pool who on average hold one grade or roughly ten points higher than current-year candidates. Pressure on places pushed points upward.
Read at Independent
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]