This morning on Twitter, Minister for Further and Higher Education Simon Harris announced that 424 third-level places have been made available to students who had their grades improved last week.
The offers to students were made today through the Central Applications Office (CAO), after CAO identified that 424 students required higher offers following the increase in grades.
On September 30, Micheál Martin announced that there had been “two errors” identified in the system used to calculate leaving cert grades this year.
After the corrections made to the system, 6,100 students were affected; 5,408 students received a higher grade by one grade band in one subject; 621 students increased their grades in two subjects; and 71 students increased their grades in three or more subjects.
In the social media post, Harris stated: “I said that we would move mountains to ensure students who had errors in calculated grades were given the places they deserved.”
He continued: “The CAO identified that 424 students required new offers. I am delighted that this morning all 424 have been offered a place for this academic year.”
The Minister had previously said that the error in calculating Leaving Certificate grades might necessitate over 1,000 additional spaces in university courses.
“I want to really thank higher education partners for their work on this,” Harris added. “Their can-do attitude and focus on finding solutions was key to getting this resolved and doing right by students.”
This year’s Leaving Certificate results were the highest on record, with grades on average 4.4% higher than the previous year.
In Trinity, incoming first year students started class on Monday, following a delayed Freshers’ and orientation week beginning on September 28, which coincided with the beginning of term for all other years.
