'Brain drain' fear as our top students flock to UK colleges
New figures show a 43pc increase in applications from Ireland for courses in British instutions such as Oxford University (pictured). Photo: Getty Images
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Thursday November 26 2009
A SURGE in applications from Irish school leavers for prestigious university courses in the UK next year has prompted fears of a brain drain.
The Government has pledged to keep the brightest students here to kick-start the 'smart economy', which is promised to lift us out of economic slump.
But the fear of a flight of elite students to Britain threatens that government plan.
New figures show a 43pc increase in applications from Ireland for courses in medicine, veterinary medicine, dentistry and science in British universities, and also to other courses in Oxford and Cambridge.
More than 1,300 students -- up by 400 on last year -- have already applied for top UK courses beginning next autumn. A further 4,500 are expected to apply for other courses by the deadline of January 15.
Among the early applicants were high points students from the 2009 Leaving Certificate class, who failed to get into an Irish medical school after the introduction of the controversial HPAT aptitude test.
Many of the disappointed applicants have applied to UK medical schools for next year, in some cases preparing to vacate places on alternative courses they took up in Irish universities this year.
Contest
The contest for high-achievers has also sharpened at home, between UCD and Trinity -- the country's biggest universities -- according to the college entry figures for 2009-10, based on the school attended by first years.
Trinity appears to have made up ground lost to UCD a few years ago, with an increase in students from a number of leading schools where the UCD share has fallen.
Well-known fee-paying schools in Dublin, including Blackrock College, St Andrew's College, Alexandra College, Wesley College and the Institute of Education sent fewer students to UCD this year, while Trinity's figures picked up.
However, UCD has put in a strong performance elsewhere. Among its gains this year are nine more students from the popular school at Muckross Park, Donnybrook, when compared with last year, while Trinity's intake has fallen.
The 2009-10 college entry figures once again highlight the dominant role of the relatively small number of fee-paying and grind schools in securing places at third-level, particularly at the universities.
But areas of severe socio- economic disadvantage such as Dublin 10 and 12 send a lower proportion of students to college than anywhere else.
UCD president Dr Hugh Brady last night warned of the threat posed by "aggressive" UK universities.
"We have been concerned for a number of years about the aggressive recruitment by UK universities of Ireland's top students, coupled with scholarships to cover fees," he told the Irish Independent.
"There is evidence that students are now moving to the UK in greater numbers and unless the funding crisis here is relieved, this will only get worse," said Dr Brady.
He recently told a review body on higher education, set up by Education Minister Batt O'Keeffe, of the need for the Irish third-level sector to reach world-class standards in areas such as funding, best practice teaching, IT infrastructure and institutional collaboration.
Meanwhile, TCD has unveiled a new five-year strategic plan to strengthen the college's position as "a university of global consequence".
Its key features include a 15pc increase in student places to 18,000, and greater student choice through a modularised core/elective curriculum for undergraduates.
- KATHERINE DONNELLY and JOHN WALSHE
Irish Independent
