A new era for university entry, without the CAO

It has long been said that there is an unhealthy obsession with CAO points for access to higher education in Ireland. It can spiral into mental health concerns for many students who find it difficult to cope with the stress of needing to score as many CAO points as possible to compete for college places.

This year brings something of a game-changer in terms of entry to higher education, with an initiative that allows students start a degree programme in a college of further education (FE) and finish it in a university or technological university, without any worries about CAO points.

The new scheme is quite different from the familiar post-Leaving Cert (PLC) route from further education to higher education. This involves students completing the PLC and then entering a CAO competition with other PLC graduates for a quota of places on a degree course, which works very well for many students.

PLCs will continue, but what’s also coming this year are joint programmes between further and higher education colleges, which will allow students to spend a year or two of a degree course in a college of further education and transition to a higher education institution to complete their studies.

The further and higher education colleges involved are co-designing their courses. More information is expected over the next month.

What we do know is that from September 2023, there will be 13 routes of entry through FE colleges in nine education and training board (ETB) regions that will lead to graduation in one of six higher education institutions: UCC, Atlantic TU, Munster TU, South East TU, TU Shannon and IADT Dún Laoghaire.

The courses (see table below) cover a wide breadth of disciplines including nursing, media production, business, performing arts, computing, sustainable engineering and finance.

Entry criteria will be similar to the traditional entry criteria to PLC courses, including an interview and minimum Leaving Cert requirements.

There will be a great welcome for nursing, in particular, because of the high demand for, and the difficulties in securing, a place on a degree programme, even after a PLC, with many opting to go to the UK. Nursing will be offered in the west/north west, with entry through FE colleges in Donegal, Galway, Roscommon, Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim and completion at Atlantic TU.

Students will also benefit financially from spending a year or two of their degree studies in a local college, delaying the need to find accommodation in a university town.

The courses will be new, and distinct from any similar-sounding courses in the colleges involved.

This is the first phase of what is intended to become a much bigger player in college entry processes in the years ahead.

Further and Higher Education Minister Simon Harris has been driving the creation of a unified tertiary sector with greater integration between further and higher education.

He has been an advocate for alternative routes to third level, arguing that the CAO “should not be the only show in town”.