Towards a Better Future

Towards a Better Future: A Review of the Irish School System
The points system is merely one of many possible selection mechanisms for selecting students for
higher education. Its key purpose is to allocate scarce third-level places. If there were sufficient places
on every course for all qualified students who applied, there would be no need for a points system.
The issue of points arises only when demand exceeds the number of places available. Some countries
in the European Higher Education Area, which have a national public examination at the end of
second level, use a similar points system, while other countries such as France and Italy allow all
students who pass the Baccalaureate examination to transfer into higher education. In those
countries, for courses where places are limited, de facto selection is based on the results of First Year
examinations. Selection for higher education in England has some similarities to the Irish system in
that A Level results are an important element of the selection criteria, but many English institutions
use supplemental criteria, such as personal statements, interviews and/or school references, when
selecting students. In the US where there is no centralised examination or certification at the end
of high school, candidates’ performance in American College Tests (ACTs) or SATs are used in
addition to high-school results, personal statements, school references and interviews. Many U.S.
universities also take account of non-academic achievements in sports, the arts, community
endeavours etc. For example, the ten campuses of the University of California use a system called
‘comprehensive review’ to assess its applicants. The following factors are taken into account in
assessing applications (University of California, 2016):
■ Academic grade points
■ Scores on ACT or SAT tests
■ Number of, content of and performance in academic courses
■ Number of, content of and performance in UC-approved honours and advanced placement
courses
■ Being ranked in the top 9% of the applicant’s high-school class
■ Quality of a student’s senior year programme
■ Quality of their academic performance relative to the educational opportunities in their
school
■ Outstanding performance in one or more academic subject areas
■ Outstanding work in one or more special projects in any academic field of study
■ Recent marked improvement in academic performance
■ Special talents, achievements and awards in a particular field such as visual and performing arts,
athletic endeavours, leadership, significant community service etc.
■ Completion of special projects undertaken in the context of the high-school curriculum
■ Academic accomplishments in light of a student’s life experiences and special circumstances
■ Location of a student’s secondary school and residence.
While the above list of criteria is impressive, the challenge of applying such a comprehensive list to
each application must be extremely time-consuming and resource-intensive. The self-reported
aspects of every application would have to be checked for truth and accuracy and qualitative criteria
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