Trinity to consider written applications from students and schools

Trinity College Dublin is to consider written applications from students and the schools they have attended, in addition to Leaving Cert results, when choosing entrants to its degrees.

While Education Minister Ruairi Quinn awaits a long-promised report from the seven universities on how to reduce the pressure of the points race, the university is preparing its own changes for school leavers in 2014.

Although it is intended just to pilot the scheme for some places on law degrees and maybe some of its humanities courses, TCD will share the results with other colleges to inform the wider changes to the third-level entry system.

TCD’s dean of undergraduate studies, Professor Patrick Geoghegan, said that personal testaments were commonly used in other countries to help select students. These could include letters of application or an essay on why a student wants to take a particular course, or about their personal interests.

“We will also look at their ranking in their class, so if you’re first in your class in a school in Leitrim, that’s significant, as opposed to someone with the same points who’s 50th in class at a south Dublin school. It creates inequity in the system if you can afford to go to an elite fee-paying school that confers advantage over someone who can’t.”

The consideration of family background is also likely but will not be entirely new, as TCD and many others colleges offer reserved places to students from disadvantaged backgrounds under the Hear (Higher Education Access Route) scheme.

It had more than 9,000 applicants this year and a scheme giving wider access to students with disabilities had 3,000 applications.

While the inclusion of other assessments has been suggested as a way of easing the pressure on students in the Leaving Cert, an aptitude test used in combination with exam results to rank medical degree applicants for the last three years has proved controversial.

The Institute of Guidance Counsellors said it wants medical schools to abandon the HPAT aptitude test.

Institute president Gerry Flynn said: “The available evidence suggests that students who undertake special preparatory courses, at a huge cost, perform significantly better in the test. As a result, the advantages conferred on participating students negate the intended purpose of introducing such a test.”

While the TCD pilot will be welcomed, little progress has been seen since Mr Quinn ordered a conference of schools and third-level leaders on the issue. His spokesperson said he looked forward to receiving a report from the heads of universities on a review of the points system, which is expected shortly after the minister pressed them in June for a more urgent response.

A survey of 522 second-level students by study skills group Student Enrichment Services found that 95% favoured continuous assessments over the pressures of the final exams. While they are being introduced for the 2017 Junior Cert, changes to the Leaving Cert format are further away. Reports on reforms are also due from the State Examinations Commission, the Higher Education Authority, and other bodies.