Leaving Cert students have had a couple of days to consider their exam results, and some will be unhappy with the grades awarded. Last year about 10,400 of the 400,000 grades awarded were appealed. Of these 960 were upgraded. If you are considering appealing your results this year, you need to move fast as the deadline is next Wednesday. The application must be made through your school, which must certify that the grade awarded to the student was "substantially at variance" with the grade expected.
In practice, this usually means school principals must contact subject teachers, or consult previous reports, so they need some time. It is the schools which then forward the applications to the Department of Education. There is a fee of £25 per subject appealed. This is refunded if the appeal is successful. And, remember, even if your appeal is not successful, you cannot be downgraded.
As always, each student's work is re-examined by a different examiner. A number of new safeguards have also been put in place this year. The results of the appeal will be more detailed, confirming that a full re-check has taken place and that all parts of the examination, including practical work, have been marked. This is particularly important in light of the 1995 exam where more than 50 pieces of art work were lost.
An additional appeals mechanism has been introduced, allowing students to further appeal to an examinations commission; the commissioners are independent of the Department of Education. Six commissioners have been appointed, including a former chairman of the Revenue Commissioners, a former deputy secretary of posts and telegraphs and a former director of the National Library.
The commissioners will formally confirm that all the appeals process was carried out correctly but will not further re-mark the paper. Students can also complain to the commissioners about any matter relating to the administration of the appeals process. The Department of Education has produced a booklet detailing the appeals process for students and their parents (tel (01) 8734700).
Results of the appeals will be in schools on Wednesday, October 1st. Any upgrades will be communicated by the Department of Education directly to the CAO. Every effort will be made to facilitate students whose upgrades would entitle them to a college offer.
A fee by any other name
With all the talk of a reintroduction of fees in colleges in Britain and Northern Ireland, it would be easy to miss the stealthy return of fees (sorry, student services charges) in the Republic's colleges.
Last year students were asked for £150 in most colleges to cover student services, registration and exams. This year, students are faced with a 66 per cent increase. In most colleges, the amount payable for the acceptance of an offer from the CAO is now £250. USI estimates that around 50,000 students, or half the total student body, will be affected by the increase.
Students who are eligible for maintenance grants will have the £250 covered by their grant. In most cases they pay £5 to accept an offer, although a number of colleges have waived this charge and students do not have to pay any money. This is the case in the Regional Technical Colleges, Waterford Institute of Technology, the National College of Art and Design and the Royal College of Surgeons. None of the universities falls into this category.
But that is not the full story. Students accepting places in UCD must pay an additional £10 levy, while students accepting a place in UCC, UCG and UL must pay £30. Students going to Trinity College have to come up with an extra £50.
A spokesman for the Department of Education says that these additional local levies, which go towards student centres/student facilities/sports facilities, are "local" agreements and are not covered by the grant. So grant-aided students must find the money themselves. Although the amounts are relatively small, it leaves grant-aided students in a worse situation than before the introduction of "free fees".
And the big question is, what will happen next year? If this rate of increase is continued, then an increase of £166 is in the offing next year, bringing the average total "fee" to £416 (excluding local levies). At this rate it will not be long before the proposed British maximum of £1,000 per annum to be introduced next year is reached.
NUI matriculation requirements
So far, almost all of the Points Race helpline queries have come from concerned mothers, and most have been about the mechanics of the system as people gear themselves up for college offers on Monday.
One worried mother rang because her son had got an E in higher-level English but wanted to study arts in UCD. She assumed he would not be considered for a place as he did not fulfil the NUI matriculation requirements. Other candidates in this situation may be pleased to find out that all is not lost, depending on his overall performance in the Leaving Cert.
Under NUI matriculation rules, he is still eligible for a place if he scored sufficiently well in his other subjects. One grade E on a higher-level course in the Leaving Certificate will be accepted if the candidate has three grade C3s on higher-level papers, or at least one grade B3 and one grade C3 at higher-level. Of course, he will still have to fulfil the points requirement.
Some repeat Leaving Cert dates:
Five City of Dublin VEC colleges will hold information/enrolment sessions for parents and students (telephone for an appointment) today and next Thursday between 10 a.m. and noon. The five centres are St Peter's College, Killester; Pearse College, Clogher Road; Plunket College, Whitehall; Rathmines Senior College; and Ringsend Technical Institute.
Post-Leaving Certificate enrolment will begin again on Monday, September 1st, at all 16 colleges under the City of Dublin VEC umbrella. Students can telephone the relevant college or Dublin City VEC's education sector at its head office (tele 6680614)
Crumlin College, Dublin, is operating an information service from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday to Friday, until September 12th. Students interested in PLC courses can telephone the college at (01) 4540662.
Cadetships
The 1,385 applicants for cadetships with the Army, Naval Service and Air Corps should receive their offers today or tomorrow, more-or-less coinciding with the CAO schedule. There are 46 places available, with a total of 712 applicants vying for 24 Army places; 100 applicants competing for two equitation places. There are 353 applicants for 10 Air Corps posts and 220 applicants for 10 Naval Service places.
Usually, all the applicants offered a place will accept it so there isn't a second round of offers.
CAO points on the Web: The cut-off points for college courses will be carried by The Irish Times on the web at http://www.irishtimes.com on Monday.
Additional reporting by Catherine Foley
The Points Race will appear from Monday to Friday for the duration of the college offers season