Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour)
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473. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the efforts that were made to co-ordinate the timing of the leaving certificate results and UCAS deadlines and to communicate the timing of those results with the UCAS system in the UK to allow Irish students take-up courses; the number of students who were unable to take-up places at UK universities in 2021 as a result of the delay in results and the failure to come to agreement with UCAS universities; and the number of those students who chose to take-up a place in an Irish third-level course rather than defer until 2022 thereby reducing the total number of students able to take up third-level courses. [45244/21]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The timing of the Leaving Certificate results is a matter for the Minister for Education, and I understand the Deputy has put a similar question to Minister Foley.

In respect of engagement with UCAS, my officials have been engaged with the UK side since January 2021 in order to ensure the interests of Irish students are represented and considered, and that the relevant UK authorities and bodies had the necessary information. This includes UCAS, Universities UK, Universities Wales and Universities Scotland. There was also engagement with the Northern Ireland higher education institutions.

It should be noted that the UCAS deadline is advisory, and while the vast majority of UK Universities will observe that deadline, there are a small number that require completion of registration processes by 31st August 2021. This is for a variety of university operational procedures, including arranging placements, Garda/police vetting etc.

Where issues emerged which could not be resolved in engagement between students and admissions offices, officials in both my Department and the Department of Education engaged directly with the universities in question, seeking that they would respond flexibly in terms of Irish students. This flexibility was forthcoming in most cases. The work was also supported by staff from the Irish Embassy in London. In the cases which were notified to and pursued by both Departments, no student has reverted to either Department to indicate they were disadvantaged.

Where a student applies to pursue their study in the UK, this is a matter between the student and the UK University in question. As a result, my Department does not have any statistics in this regard.