Written answers

Tuesday, 22 September 2020

Department of Education and Skills

State Examinations

Photo of Gerald NashGerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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613. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if the case of a person (details supplied) will be reviewed in relation to their CAO application; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24814/20]

Photo of Simon HarrisSimon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Universities and Institutes of Technology determine their own procedures for admission. The CAO process applications for undergraduate, and some postgraduate, courses on their behalf.

Decisions on admissions are made by the Higher Education Institutions who then instruct the CAO to make offers to successful candidates. Neither I nor my Department have a role in the operation of the CAO.

Where the CAO is notified of an error in an application after Round One offers have issued, they update the account information and ask the higher education institutions to consider them for Round Two. The higher education institutions will then do their best to accommodate applicants with offers on Round Two. A portion of the offers that are issued in Round Two every year are to applicants who need to be accommodated after adjustments have been made due to applicant omissions or errors, or administrative errors caused by the higher education institutions or CAO.

I appreciate that it can be quite upsetting for an applicant to realise their examination information was incorrect, and every effort is made by CAO and the higher education institutions to facilitate such applicants in Round Two.

If the issue is not resolved the applicant’s satisfaction, the option to appeal is available. The CAO has an Independent Appeals Commission, to which recourse may be had by applicants who believe that they have been treated unfairly by CAO, and whose complaints have not been resolved by CAO. The function of the Appeals Commission is to ensure that the rules are applied fairly.

Photo of Rose Conway-WalshRose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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614. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of students accepted to study medicine here from 2008 to 2020; the number that came through the CAO application system; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24860/20]

Photo of Simon HarrisSimon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The Higher Education Authority (HEA) is responsible for collecting, analysing and disseminating student and graduate data from all HEA-funded higher education institutions (HEIs). Data for the number of students enrolled in medicine courses for the academic period 2007/2008 to 2018/2019 is attached.

Data in relation to enrolments in the 2019/2020 academic year is currently being returned by institutions to the HEA for collation and audit. This process has been delayed due to the impact of COVID-19. The data will be published on the HEA's website: when available.

HEIs are autonomous with regard to management of their academic affairs including admissions procedures.The CAO is a company established by HEIs to process applications for undergraduate, and some postgraduate, courses on their behalf. Decisions on admissions, including the number of places offered, are made by the HEIs who then instruct the CAO to make offers to successful candidates. Therefore, the application, offer and acceptance data is held by the CAO, not by my Department, and so the data requested by the Deputy in this regard cannot be provided.

An annual quota applies to the intake of EU students to medical education in the State. Thereafter, the number of places allocated to non-EU students is a matter for the individual HEI concernedwith the availability of clinical placements being an important factor in this regard.

Medicine Enrolment data
https://data.oireachtas.ie/ie/oireachtas/debates/questions/supportingDocumentation/2020-09-22_pq614-22-09-20_en.xlsx

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