Education Minister Peter Weir’s rethink on accepting teachers’ A-levels predictions as the basis for university entry has produced calls to remove the cap on the number of students who can be enrolled.
CCEA said it will release the centre-assessed results to schools and colleges at 4pm on Thursday and they will in turn be able to share the revised A-level and AS-level gradings with their students from 9am on Friday.
The results will also be available online from 9am for those schools and colleges that have registered for that method.
Meanwhile, urgent clarity is now needed around university admissions in Northern Ireland, Queen’s University said, after the coronavirus pandemic forced the cancellation of exams.
Last year the Belfast university took on just over 3,300 students, but has already confirmed places for more than 4,300 students – a rise of 1,000 on this point last year – Queen’s spokeswoman Jo Clague said.
“We won’t be able to meet the demand for students that might be coming through from centre-assessed grades, and any uplifting grades as a result of that, without additional funded places.”
She urged a more holistic approach to making offers in future, including other parts of the further and higher education sectors, adding:
“We urgently seek some clarity.”
Ms Clague said Queen’s had made offers of places to students which they may now not be able to honour.
The final number to be accommodated is still unknown but is expected to be revealed within days, she told Stormont’s economy committee.
She said the number of applicants who had been rejected on the basis of their calculated grades on August 13 before the U-turn was around about 1,000 to 1,200 students.
University numbers
Economy Minister Diane Dodds is facing calls to remove the university numbers cap now that significantly more students are expected to qualify for places at Queen’s and Ulster University.
The number of Northern Ireland and European students both universities can take is capped by Stormont because their tuition fees are partially funded by the Department for the Economy.
Ms Dodds is expected to bring forward proposals to Thursday’s meeting of the Executive around additional places and resources.
Ulster University has four campuses across the North.
Its new vice-chancellor Paul Bartholomew envisaged “a large degree of asymmetry between where students wish to go and perhaps where they even feel they have a right to go, and where the vacancies remain”.
A spokesperson for the Department for the Economy said: “Until the local universities have received access to the full range of revised grades for all applicant students, they will not be able to confirm places for students or otherwise.
“As such, until this process has been completed, there is no way of assessing the number of any additional places there may be.
“The Economy Minister has stated that she will be working with Executive colleagues to ensure that any additional places that may be required, and extra resources, are put in place to support universities, and will bring forward proposals to the Executive tomorrow.”
