A Dublin student who achieved eight H1s and anticipated “no problem” in securing their first choice has said they are devastated after losing out to the “sick, inhumane” random selection process.
After achieving the highest possible grade in each subject and securing the maximum 625 points, the student said their “heart sank” on Wednesday when offers were issued by the Central Applications Office (CAO).
The student had hoped to study management science and information systems studies at Trinity College Dublin, a highly sought-after course and one of just two nationwide that required both maximum points and random selection.
In total, places on 25 level-eight courses in high demand nationwide were allocated using random selection.
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On opening their results, “my very first thought was that I should have no problem getting my top choice in the CAO”, the student said.
Instead, the student was offered their second choice.
“Knowing that all these years of intense, hard work were shattered by an outdated, cruel and completely unfair place-allocation system was simply heartbreaking. Nobody’s future should be decided by a lottery.”
The student, who wished to remain anonymous, said it was “shocking” to learn they had missed out.
“It did not seem real at first. Working extremely hard day and night to achieve something for six years straight, only for it to get taken away by a lottery using randomly generated numbers was absolutely devastating.”
The student subsequently discovered that some accepted to the course achieved six H1s in contrast to their eight.
“The lottery system is sick, inhumane and disadvantageous for so many high-achieving students,” they said.
Amid lowering grade inflation, they expected the use of random selection to be less common this year, though there was no change in the number of courses using it.
They added this was on top of competing with Leaving Cert students from previous years who applied through the CAO in 2025, having benefited from higher grade inflation.
“It feels like the Irish education system has failed me instead of fostering me. It took me in and spat me right back out again after all the hard work.”
Although they were offered their second preference, they said one of the advantages of their first choice was being surrounded by “like-minded, high-achieving individuals”.
“I could have received all H2s and still made the requirements for my second choice. What was all the hard work to achieve high results for?”
The chances of being offered the course on a subsequent round of offers were “slim”, they said.
“There is no way of knowing how many candidates are awaiting a place in my course. We are all left to blindly hope that a place will appear.”
The student’s parent said that, despite years of hard work, extracurricular projects, awards and recognitions, they have been “let down” by the system, describing it as “deeply unfair”.
They noted that their child was “doubly disadvantaged” as they competed with others “who they might not have been in competition with if not for upward grade adjustment”.
“When you get 95 or 100 per cent in a subject, you don’t benefit from grade adjustment,” they said. They added that “the system punished those who do best”.
Orla Sheils, Trinity’s vice-provost, said on Wednesday there was “really no fair way of solving the problem when students present on equal marks”.
While welcoming the reduction in Leaving Cert grade inflation, she said it was “regrettable that the effects of this gradual unwinding will continue for a number of years to come”.
