An analysis of the third-level choices made by high achievers in the Leaving Cert provides a welter of interesting material, which should be taken seriously by policymakers. The research, by Dr Seán McDonagh of the Government's Expert Skills Group, is ground-breaking in its detail. It tracks the third-level options made by a small number of Leaving Cert students (some 9,000, or less than one in five of all Leaving Cert students) who secure 450 or more CAO points.
The good news is that the overwhelming majority of those with high points are choosing to remain in the Republic for third-level education, despite fears raised by some about a "brain drain" to venerable universities in Britain and the US. Over 80 per cent of those with more than 450 points proceed to take an honours degree in an Irish university, which is no small compliment to the quality of the university system in this State.
The research study shows a worrying drift away from information technology, despite the priority given to this area by government and industry. It details how large numbers of those with high points - especially female students - are deserting science and technology in favour of what are seen as "safer" options in teaching and humanities. Critically, the study shows how the extremely high-points required for medicine is distorting the process. It is pulling a large number of the very high achievers into medicine and related areas at a relatively young age. Some 44 per cent of those with 550 points-plus, for example, accept places on medically-related courses. Medicine and related courses draw heavily from those with 550 points-plus because human medicine, veterinary and dental medicine and pharmacy all have a points threshold at this figure or above it. Some high achievers may find themselves under pressure to accept one of these places even if they have no particular aptitude for the course.
The findings should intensify the pressure to reform medical education. Proposals from the Cabinet on this issue are overdue. They are thought to involve a doubling of the number of places in medical training to more than 700 and a new graduate entry programme. Dr McDonagh's research makes a compelling case for such reform. It also raises wider questions about the points system. Yes, the Points Commission examined it in 1999, but the rate of social and economic change since then would indicate that another review may be timely.