Allow Cert students affected by calculated grade error to be included in CAO Round 4 offerings

STUDENTS AFFECTED BY EXIT CERTIFICATE CALCULATED GRADES ERROR will be included in the fourth round of offers from the Central Applications Office this Thursday.

Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and CAO agreed to include offers arising from corrections to calculated grades alongside the Round Four offers after receiving the corrected data over the weekend.

“Upon receiving the data from the Department of Education on Saturday, the CAO processed the corrections to the Certificate of Completion scores over the weekend,” said CAO General Manager Joseph O’Grady.

“On Sunday, the HEIs began the process of reviewing the affected applications. Whenever possible, HEIs will authorize the CAO to issue offers to applicants who have been upgraded and, as a result of this update, are now eligible for a new offer. “

Applicants who receive an offer on Thursday have until 3:00 PM on Tuesday, October 13 to accept the offer if they so wish.

“CAO Round 4 deals on Thursday at 10 a.m. Welcome news. Excellent work in progress by institutions of higher education, CAO and @hea_irl. I’ll keep you updated, ”Higher Education Minister Simon Harris tweeted.

In total, 6,870 grades were increased following a review of the Leaving Certificate calculated grade system, with 614 schools and educational centers, out of a total of 741, with at least one improved result.

Education Minister Norma Foley had predicted that around 7,200 grades had been affected, and roughly 6,500 students were expected to receive higher grades after the review process, which was conducted by the American company Education Training Services.

It had been estimated that 1,000 additional university places might be needed to deal with the problems caused by the error. The CAO did not disclose how many additional spots would be offered in its statement tonight.

Foley said his department and the Department of Higher Education were working to ensure that anyone entitled to a higher-scoring course could start it this academic year.

For applicants who have already received an offer in a previous bid round, the CAO provides the following tips:

1. Accept the new offer before the ‘Response Date’ of Tuesday October 13 at 3:00 PM if you prefer this course to the one you have already accepted; this action automatically cancels your previous acceptance.

2. If you do not want to accept the new offer, you simply cannot do anything and your previous acceptance will still stand.

3. If you want to postpone your current offer, do not accept it now, you must contact the Admissions Office of the institution offering the offer immediately by email with the text ‘Deferred Entry’ in the subject line of the email. See page 19 of the CAO Handbook or the CAO website for more information.