Opinion: as young people weigh up CAO offers, they would do well to reflect on what they like to do rather than points
By Derek O'Byrne, SETU
Every year we focus on the high point race as symptomatic of general competition for higher education places. This encourages us to think about CAO points as reflecting a value on a course. Studying a 600-point course is more difficult, more prestigious or more worthy that a 300-point programme. However, the reality is very different.
The CAO system is a process of allocating third level places. It's a system that is widely considered as fair, equitable and transparent and has become a deep-rooted part of the Irish education system. So much so that you could be forgiven for forgetting that its purpose is to balance the supply and demand for a particular programme based on the number of applicants and the number of places available.
It is a ranking of applicants in order of their CAO calculated points. Whether or not an applicant is offered a place depends on where their points lie relative to all other applicants for the course. It follows that if everybody’s points go up so will the cut-off point, and vice versa. High point programmes can therefore be a result of lots of competition for a course or conversely relatively few places offered.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
From RTÉ Radio 1's Morning Ireland, almost 60,000 people receive offers of college places via the CAO
Traditionally, point cut-offs have been relatively stable from year to year and this has allowed students predict programmes that might fall within their expected leaving certificate performance range. The last few years, however, has seen greater numbers of students achieving higher grades and this has translated into some upward movement of points. The Government has attempted to counter this with a number of additional places in high demand areas to re-balance the supply - demand relationship. In effect by making more places available, more offers will be made and the points will fall.
But all this focus on the points detracts attention from the core purpose of students coming to university: That should be to study a programme that will put them on an appropriate and fulfilling career path consummate with their aptitudes and interests. Perhaps, it is time to give space for CAO applicants to ask hard questions about the relativity between courses and between careers and drive them to consider aptitudes and interests rather than CAO points.
The evidence for better higher education outcomes for students who match their skills and interests to their third level choices is clear. Selecting a course that is of interest and is accessible physically, financially, and most importantly, emotionally, will likely result in better performance and better career focus. This applies in the short term through better academic performance in college but also in the longer term through the passion and creativity, developed in in a positive college experience, that will most likely count in their career promotion opportunities, long after the technical content of their college programme has been superseded.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
From RTÉ News, 60% of applicants in 2023 receive their first preference CAO choice
The key to success therefore lies in the judgements that a student needs to make to ensure their interests and abilities align to the courses they want to pursue. This has absolutely nothing to do with the volume of points they achieve or the points cut-off for a course. The leaving certificate class of 2023 is seeing CAO point tallies that are by traditional standards high, and students may erroneously think that they should make better use of the points they achieve by selecting higher point course in the mistaken belief that they will lead to better careers or indeed a better college experience. We, as a society, must not steer them into the belief that academic achievement, through the narrow definition of CAO points, defines in anyway the career choices or career aspirations that they should choose.
While college is an unquestionable rite of passage to independence and self-realisation it should be an enjoyable experience and selecting the right college choice and right course makes that more easily achievable and enjoyable. All too often the decision on transition from second level to the world of additional study or indeed of work is seen as a high-stake decision. In reality, careers have never been more dynamic and there are often many routes to achieve a career objective.
Students’ understanding of careers and opportunities are often shaped and developed as their journey through college unfolds and the traditional career pathways meld to new and emerging opportunities the student could never have imagined. Our working life is now shaped by a continuous pattern of change, and we can all expect to change our careers and career direction multiple times over our working life. Our transition from school to college or work is just the start of that journey and by no means the high-stake that defines our future.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
From RTÉ News, third-level students face 'brutal' housing situation
Over the coming days, as school leavers weigh-up and reflect on the college offers they receive, or, indeed, on the next steps they are considering, they would do well to reflect on how their decision makes the most of what they like to do and study rather than CAO points and not be distracted by fears of getting it wrong. Staying true to your skills and interests will likely serve as best way to navigate your career ahead.
Dr Derek O’Byrne is Vice-President for Academic Affairs at South East Technological University (SETU).
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
