The Minister for Education has said she is examining her “options” when it comes to changing the CAO points of the class of 2024 who apply for courses this year. 

Previously, Leaving Cert students had their grades boosted by 7.5% on average to mitigate the impact of the chaos caused by lockdown. 

This year, students will have their grades boosted by 5.5%; however, students who benefited from 7.5% grade inflation and apply to the CAO in 2025, will now compete with students whose grades have been inflated by only 5.5%.

On Newstalk Breakfast, Minister Helen McEntee defended the system and said the Government was bringing an end to it “over time”. 

“The class that we’re looking at now has gone through two lockdowns,” she said. 

“So, the class next year would have gone through the second year in 2022, the class this year had actually two stages where they were actually locked down. 

“So, I absolutely acknowledge that - they’ve had a really difficult time starting off in post-primary.” 

Students doing their Leaving Cert exams in Bandon, West Cork, 2022. Image: AG News / Alamy Stock Photo

Minister McEntee said she is “live” to the concerns of families who are unhappy that the class of 2025 will be competing for college places with students whose grades were automatically inflated at a higher rate than their own. 

“If you were to apply that to students from last year, you are retrospectively changing students’ grades who have already been handed their grades and already have them, the legal basis to do that, I’m told, is not there,” she said. 

“This is engagement that’s happened prior [to my appointment as Minister] but what I’m trying to understand is, is that [still] the case and are there any other options?” 

Leaving Cert students. Picture by: Alamy.com.

Minister McEntee added that whatever happens, she expects most students will still obtain their first choice of course in the CAO. 

“The first thing I want to say to parents or students who are listening - irrespective of this year or any other year - between 80 and 90% of students will always get their top choice,” she said.

The CAO results will be released in June.

Main image: Helen McEntee speaking to the media at Government Buildings. Picture by: Leah Farrell / © RollingNews.ie