Fifth years benefit as revised system set to ease points race

Students who have just started fifth year should face less of a scramble for college places if a new system of fewer Leaving Certificate grades, a revised points system, and broader entry-level courses has its intended effect.

The final piece of the system has yet to be outlined in detail by the universities but the points to be used by the Central Applications Office (CAO) from 2017 were revealed yesterday by Education Minister Jan O’Sullivan.

Rather than differences of five points between the award for each current sub-divided Leaving Certificate grade, a range of points increments will be used to try to minimise the practice of random selection on courses with high numbers of places.