Points for medicine to rise despite extra places

A SURGE in applications means that Leaving Certificate points for medicine are set to rise again this summer despite Government commitments to reduce the pressure on school leavers chasing places.

Central Applications Office (CAO) figures show a 13% increase in those choosing medicine as their first preference in college lists this year.

The rise to 2,539 applications, among 8,515 listing medicine somewhere on their course choices, will mean that the Government’s provision of an extra 40 places for Irish and other EU students in medical schools this autumn is unlikely to have any impact on the high points required for entry to these courses.

The addition of 70 places to the previous cap of 310 for EU students last year failed to make any significant change to the points requirements.

The minimum points for first-round entry to medicine last August was 570 out of a 600 maximum, a score achieved by only around 1,000 Leaving Certificate students. This year’s rise in applications suggests the points for the 420 places will rise again when results are issued in mid-August, putting pressure on the Government ahead of the summer election.

In the 2002 Programme for Government, it promised to “address the distortion of the points system which comes about through certain high points courses.” It referred to medicine and other health science courses, with plans to move towards a common science degree as the main means of entry.

The plan has since been modified, with 60 places on offer to holders of third-level degrees in the first graduate medicine course next autumn, for which there have been 520 applications.

Institute of Guidance Counsellors president Frank Mulvihill said health science courses remain the greatest problem area for second level students.

“It’s very harsh for a student who gets 480 or 500 points and wants to be a physiotherapist or a doctor, but can’t get onto the course. It’s good that more places are being offered but, for a country trying to get more doctors into the system, we’re not making it any easier for students with the ability,” he said.

Education Minister Mary Hanafin has proposed a new entry scheme for school leavers, where those with a pre-determined points score of around 450 would be selected on the basis of performance in an aptitude test. However, this entry method can not be put in place before 2009.

A spokesperson for Ms Hanafin said the Government is addressing the issue in numerous ways, including extra places for school leavers and the graduate course starting this year.

“These are always going to be courses that will attract huge interest from school leavers, and the CAO statistics are subject to change between now and July,” she said. The postgraduate courses will be widened to 240 places over the next four years, giving those who do not qualify after their Leaving Certificate an alternative entry route.