At a time when third-level institutions are experiencing a shortage in funding, the practice of limiting intake of students for particular courses to keep qualifying points high is both socially unacceptable and financially wasteful. It can have life-changing implications for students who fall just short of the points required while lecture halls and teaching staff are not employed to their optimum effect. This is not a new phenomenon. The practice was identified last year by The Irish Times.
The points system brought transparency and a level playing pitch for students seeking entry to third-level colleges. After 40 years, however, weaknesses have been identified and exploited. A points race has developed at second level that rewards rote learning over critical thinking, while cramming schools have proliferated. A view has developed that high points courses are superior and offer improved long-term prospects. Universities have taken advantage of this perception by establishing small prestige courses, often with fewer than 10 students, but requiring high entry points. The practice of offering these kind of tightly controlled entry routes distorts the system.
Pressure on third-level education is immense, not just financially but in terms of international ranking and student numbers. In 17 years, there has been a 50 per cent rise in the number of students, while honours degree courses have trebled. Under pressure from the Department of Education, colleges and institutions have agreed to reduce the number of low intake, prestige courses by 2017. In broadening the intake system in this way, students will be encouraged to specialise at a later date – many believe this is the optimal strategy at undergraduate level. The initiative may also help to reduce first year dropout rates.
A two-year review of the points system by an official group headed by Maynooth University president Philip Nolan has found that manipulation of the points system has become "systemic". Figures for 2011 showed that while 23 courses required precisely 500 points, only four courses had a qualifying mark of 495 points. In order to deal with this situation and introduce greater transparency to the CAO system, the review group recommended that colleges should announce the number of places available on various courses at the beginning of the year and, at the end, state how many had been filled.
Colleges compete aggressively for the brightest students by requiring high points for limited places on specialised courses. Designed to promote their status with parents and students, the practice is understandable. But it is wasteful of resources. Because of the demands of a growing economy the points required for engineering, science, business studies and other disciplines are expected to rise. That process should not be artificially manipulated.