Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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108. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the status of the implementation of the recommendations of the Higher Education Authority report entitled Transitions Reform on transitions from leaving certificate stage to entry into third level education; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21396/16]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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A Transitions Reform Steering Group is chaired by the Secretary General of the Department of Education and Skills and has membership from Department of Education and Skills, the National Centre for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA), the Higher Education Authority (HEA), the State Examinations Commission (SEC), the Irish Universities Association (IUA) and Institute of Technology Ireland (IOTI) as well as Professor Áine Hyland as an independent expert. The Group has, since 2012, been working collaboratively to develop and agree proposals to improve the transition experience of young people moving from second-level to higher education.

Three key underlying and unifying principles of the approach taken by the partners have been identified as follows:

- A recognition that good learning outcomes and key competences developed through a high quality student experience at second level provide a firm foundation for successful learning in higher education;

- A simplified, coherent and streamlined approach to system architecture and processes helps to build a bridge for students at the interface between different levels of education;

- Our national examination and our higher education admissions systems must have reliability, validity, integrity, equity, fairness and transparency as their hallmarks. It is essential that full public confidence in both systems is maintained.

In April 2015 the Minister for Education and Skills published a report entitled "Supporting a Better Transition from Second Level to Higher Education – Implementation and Next Steps", which set out a package of reforms developed by the stakeholders involved and which are designed to support students in the transition from second level to higher education. Those reforms are as follows:–

- To introduce a new grading scheme for the Leaving Certificate, which will reduce the number of grade bands from 14 to 8 at each level. Ireland's use of a high number of grading bands is unique internationally. The use of narrow grade bands may also put pressure on students to achieve marginal gains in examination performance and, as a consequence, focus excessive attention on the detail of the assessment process rather than on the achievement of broader learning objectives.

- Related to the new grading scheme, a revised Common Points Scale is also to be introduced. Developed by the universities and institutes of technology, the revised scale:–

- preserves the relative value of achievement at Ordinary level in relation to achievement at Higher level that applies in the current common points scale,

- minimises the use of random selection that may result from too many students achieving the same points score, particularly at Higher level, and

- Encourages the take-up of Higher level subjects at Leaving Certificate by awarding points to the new H7 grade.

- To address any perceived problematic predictability in the Leaving Certificate identified by an independent external evaluation of the examination. This evaluation, while not sustaining the concerns about predictability, did identify a number of issues for consideration.

- To broaden undergraduate entry reduce the number of undergraduate entry routes, while maintaining the number of student places, to the minimum number necessary for academically appropriate and efficient allocation of places to applicants. This had been signalled not only as a means to reduce the complexity of choice for second-level students and the level of competitiveness driving the system, but also as an opportunity to offer a much broader experience for undergraduates with specialisation to follow later in their degree. These developments align with the modernisation of undergraduate curricula and assessment that is underway in institutions across the higher education system.

Implementation of these reforms: As the Deputy will be aware, a new Grading system and a revised common Points Scale will be introduced for the Leaving Certificate. These will take effect for entry into higher education from 2017 – the first overhaul of the points system since 1992. This new progressive points system is a vital part of the overall Transitions Reform agenda. The new grading scheme for the Leaving Certificate will reduce the number of grade bands from 14 to 8 at each level will be introduced.

Under the revised scale, the maximum points available in each subject is 100, and the overall maximum points available, excluding Bonus Points for Maths, is 600. This is the same as the points available under the current scale.

All students applying through the CAO from 2017 will be awarded points under the new scale, no matter when they sat the Leaving Certificate.

Because of the non-linear design and other features of the new points scale, all students regardless of which level they sit, will on average receive slightly less points than under the current system. This means that it is likely that, on average, the points required for entry to particular courses will also be slightly lower from 2017.

However, it is not expected that this change will be out of line with the natural variation of required points which occurs from year to year in any case.

The new points system has been specifically designed to fairly reward scholastic achievement and I can assure you that very extensive and detailed modelling and testing has been conducted by the higher education institutions, with the assistance of both the CAO and other technical experts, to ensure that the revised scale is fair and equitable to all students.

Ongoing research will monitor the implementation of the various elements of the programme of change on a systematic basis, and assess the overall impact of the changes.

Further detailed information on the new Leaving certificate grading system can be found at www.transition.ie.

In relation to the issues for consideration identified around the area of perceived problematic predictability in the Leaving Certificate, these are being examined by the State Examinations Commission.

Finally, the National Strategy for Higher Education to 2030 recommended that a steering and performance based framework for the system governance of higher education in Ireland was to be put in place. This framework, sets out the areas of responsibility for setting national priorities of Government and related short to medium term objectives for the higher education system.

The second Systems Performance Report is currently being drafted by the HEA and it is expected that it will be ready for publication in the coming weeks. Following on from this, there will be a review of the Systems Performance Framework during 2016 with a revised framework developed for the period ahead. It is intended to address the issue of broadening undergraduate entry, as part of this next Systems Performance Framework which will be put in place for Higher Education Institutions later this year.