Report comes nearly a year after first talks on impact of system

The recommendations from the Irish Universities Association (IUA) come almost a year after second- level and third-level heads met formally for the first time to consider the impact of the points system.

Despite years of calls for reform, it was Education Minister Ruairi Quinn’s impetus that led to the conference in September, hosted by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) and the Higher Education Authority (HEA).

The likelihood is that new Leaving Certificate assessments may not happen until after changes come into effect for the 2017 Junior Certificate. But it is hoped third-level entry changes could take effect for students starting fifth year in 2013 and sitting the Leaving Certificate in 2015.

Having pushed the IUA earlier this summer to speed up their proposals, the minister must now wait until the end of the year before more firm plans and timescales are delivered. A task force set up to consider those issues is being chaired by NUI Maynooth president Professor Philip Nolan.

Most of the proposals outlined to the minister, or those being given further consideration, are similar to those of Professor Áine Hyland, the former University College Cork vice-president.

She chaired the 1999 Points Commission and wrote the paper around which last autumn’s conference was structured.

Described in an introductory message to the minister as a report on “the current state of our thinking”, the proposals by the IUA are restricted to changes to the Leaving Certificate grading scale, more common entry degrees, and incentivising the study of some subjects through bonus points.

A spokesperson for the Department of Education said the IUA report will inform discussions on reforming the points system.

“It is a welcome step towards addressing the concerns around third-level entry highlighted in the Hyland Report and towards implementation of the recommendations of the report on the transition from second to third-level published late last year by HEA/NCCA,” she said.

“The minister looks forward to receiving the more detailed proposals and associated roadmap, at the end of the year.”