Minority of students gain ‘Irish’ bonus CAO points

FEWER than half of students who sit Leaving Certificate exams through Irish get extra points for college entry, according to academic researchers.

Despite perceptions that the small proportion of school leavers taking papers in Irish gain a major advantage because of the additional marks available, the Educational Research Centre at St Patrick’s College in Dublin has found it is not necessarily the case.

The maximum extra marks available for Irish-language exams ranges from 2.5% to 10% of total marks, depending on the subject and whether a student takes a higher or ordinary level paper. But such increases do not necessarily bring candidates up by a sub-grade of Central Applications Office (CAO) points.