Mr. Jim Miley:

I thank the Chairman and the members of the committee for the opportunity to address the committee on this important issue today. We have provided a detailed submission so I will confine my remarks to just a few key points from that submission.

We see this review of the leaving certificate process as both necessary and timely. We have acknowledged the many positive attributes of the leaving certificate in our submission but we believe that reform is necessary. That reform must support the maintenance of internationally recognised standards of assessment. It is critically important that the reform be student-centric. The leaving certificate should be fair and equitable, recognising the differences in learning style and capacity of students. It must also address the accepted challenges for students in terms of stress and mental well-being and optimise the pathways to careers or further study for students of all abilities. The current overbearing prominence of the final examination militates against students with learning disabilities or with a learning intelligence not best suited to a written exam. The heavy weighting of the final exam is still far too great. The universities advocate strongly for more authentic assessment across all subjects that genuinely reflects the learning and thinking of the student. We propose that this change be done on a phased basis, ideally over the coming three-year period.

The benefits of using a national, State-certified school leaving examination as the basis for selection to higher education are obvious. It is available to all students under the same conditions with results quality-assured by the State. It also ensures continuity and comparability year-on-year so that higher education applicants presenting results from different years are treated equitably.

The Central Applications Office, CAO, points system provides an objective and transparent allocation of places, by order of merit, based on leaving certificate achievement. The points system has been designed on the basis of stable grades but the Covid-induced changes over the past two years has destabilised the results trend. In 2019, 207 students achieved a maximum score of six H1 grades but two years later, in 2021, this had grown to 1,342 students. That is an increase of more than 600% in just 24 months. This has distorted the entry threshold to third level, and I have given just one example from the data, with a particular inequity to applicants presenting results from earlier years.

The IUA proposes that the system immediately reverts to an agreed and stable grade distribution model. That would ensure that the leaving certificate results can continue to serve as the mainstream selection mechanism for entry into third level.

The timing of leaving certificate results is a particular problem even in normal years. Results in mid-August means that first college offers cannot be made until the third week of August at the earliest. Second and third round offers come well into September often after college courses have started. The college offers for students who appeal their results can arrive a number of weeks into the college year. This all needs to changes for two key reasons. First, it gives students and their families an unacceptably short timeframe to find student accommodation and make other practical arrangements. Second, it is out of line with most other European countries, including the UK, where college offers are made in July or even earlier in some cases. Let us say an Irish student has applied for a course in an Irish university and a university in Manchester may feel compelled to accept the UK course for fear of not getting a place in Ireland.

The IUA is firmly of the view that these timelines are no longer fit for purpose. We propose that students should be in possession of their results no later than the end of June of any given year. This would allow the CAO to process results, and for offers and acceptances to higher and further education to be completed by the end of July. This would allow students to make rational choices regarding their preferred study options or career options and enable them, and their families, a reasonable period to make the necessary practical arrangements, especially those regarding accommodation but also fees and grants. This process would also allow for the leaving certificate appeals process to be completed well before the start of the academic year.

The delivery of results within this revised timeline is entirely feasible with less emphasis on the final examination, and a greater use of a range of continuous assessment options. The IUA proposes that immediate steps are taken to introduce this revised timeline in 2022.

In summary, the IUA proposals are centred on four key issues: a more equitable leaving certificate, allowing all students to reach their full potential; a greater range of more authentic assessment in the leaving certificate; more stable results to maintain equivalences across years; and, importantly, earlier results.