Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There are a few aspects to this. Obviously, there are students who are not aware of that requirement before they choose their A-level subjects and they may be studying something they do not need maths for while whereas they need the other thing. That will probably continue to come up as a barrier. Whether it can be rectified is a different kettle of fish.

On the GCSE requirement regarding language, is the reasoning that universities want more people to study languages or is it that universities feel it is necessary as a base requirement for people when they go into third level education? What is the background?