Ms Heather Cousins:

This is quite a complex area and a lot of work will need to be done on it. There is a willingness to have those discussions at least. We will certainly need to look at the timelines that both authorities are operating to and the issue of results. For example, Scotland's results came out on a different day from those in Northern Ireland, England and Wales, but we still managed to accommodate that within the UCAS system. We need to get it to align because particularly in the last couple of years institutions in Northern Ireland have held places for students from the Republic of Ireland who had received offers but then those students did not take up the places. Because clearing has finished, the universities are not able to fill those places and therefore those places are lost to them. It means they cannot recruit up to their maximum student number. It is quite a serious situation for the universities. The results and the clearing period within the UCAS system need to be aligned.

UCAS tends to have an exclusivity clause. We need to look at that and understand how exclusive it is and whether there is room for negotiation. We are also facing that with our further education colleges which are considering offering their courses through UCAS in an attempt to increase the amount of higher education in further education. We have a pilot programme and we are watching the pilot carefully to see what progress can be made. We are certainly very willing to have those discussions to facilitate discussions and try and move this on, which is in everyone's interest.