2013 CAO offers

The Irish Second-Level Students’ Union would like to wish all students the very best of luck with their CAO applications today, however the ISSU urges all students to take time to asses your options.Most students are very apprehensive this morning as they consider their options carefully. Many have close to the same points, or slightly less than what their course was last year, they are extremely concerned that the points could rise and they will miss out.The Union has welcomed the overall increase in the numbers taking higher level Maths his year, however yet again we are cautious the success of ‘Project Maths’. The ISSU will publish a national student opinion survey on Project Maths in the coming weeks.Students are urged to take time to asses their options and consider their futures carefully. The NPCpp helpline is available on 1800 265 165 and further information is available from the ISSU website or by contacting the ISSU Team directly. We would like to remind students that if you do not get your first choice it is not the end of the world. There are many different routes into your course and you should seek advice if you are in this situation. It is recommended that you view all exam scripts should you have a concern about particular grades, and exhaust all efforts in getting where you want to be.

Irish Second-Level Students' Union Welcomes Pilot Admissions Programme in Trinity College

 The Irish Second-Level Students’ Union (ISSU) welcomes today’s announcement that Trinity College Dublin will be piloting a new admissions scheme where 25 places across Law (10), History (10) and Ancient & Medieval History and Culture (5) will be reserved for students via a different entry route than the existing points scheme. Applicants seeking to enter into a course of study through the new route will be ranked according to a combination of their Leaving Certificate results, their Relative Performance Rank, and personal and contextual data provided via supplementary materials submitted by the applicant.  Students can still apply for the remainder of places in these courses through the traditional points system, and opt whether or not to apply through the new entry route.  The first students in this study will begin in Trinity in 2014, and the pilot will run for at least two years. ISSU President, Dylan Grace said; ‘The Irish Second Level Students’ Union fully supports the new feasibility study on college admissions about to be carried out by Trinity College. To me, it is quite clear that this has the potential to deliver more fairness than the current CAO system. In a society where students can contribute in many ways and display great talent in various ways, it is unjust that a student’s test scores from one exam should ultimately be the decider of their future. Although Leaving Cert points are still a significant factor, but so is how they perform compared to other applicants in their school – something which will hopefully give something of an advantage back to students from disadvantaged backgrounds, and recognise when they perform well compared to their peers.’ Brendan Power, ISSU Education Officer echoed this, ‘The traditional points system is not reflective of the student as a whole person, and we welcome the possibility that college entry will be based on a number of different aspects, instead of just one set of exam results.’ For further information on: www.tcd.ie/undergraduate-studies

LC Geography

ISSU Commentary (Higher Level)

The country’s Leaving Cert HL Geography students had a very nice start to this morning’s paper with some really lovely short questions. Complaints had been made in recent years at the level of difficulty of the short questions so perhaps this had been taken into account in compiling this year’s paper as the questions featured on the paper were far from difficult with a particularly lovely question on “Land-use” which will have been a nice, easy markers for the majority of students.The longer questions in Section 2 and 3 had a nice balance with very straightforward questions in the physical environment section. However some students expressed difficulty with part of the first question in the regional geography section which required them to describe and explain the importance of culture in a studied region. The biome elective question also proved to be a little trickier than in past papers, this may have caught some students out if they struggled to get the three points that the marking scheme will require together.Overall, students that were well prepared and ensured that they gave enough points of information to acquire the bulk of the marks going for each question will have fared well this morning.