Third Level Admissions
Seanad Éireann — 2026-07-01
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Shane Curley (FF), Cultural and Educational Panel

It is good news in one way that there is acknowledgement from the Department that there is an issue with the entrance exam system. I welcome that. The only bad news from the response is that the only thing worse than the HPAT is the leaving certificate. They are going to rebalance with more focus on the leaving certificate results than on the HPAT. There is a matrix called Cronbach's alpha - I discussed this with Dr. Muirne Spooner in the RCSI - that is used to test the validity of high-stakes exams that have strong consequences. The HPAT is one of the lowest scoring exams that can go through that system. They cannot even test the validity of the leaving certificate. It is so bad they cannot even put it through the matrix. I would be nervous about moving away from the balancing to rebalance more favourably on the leaving certificate than the HPAT because it is the worst type of exam. I have a bugbear with it and am trying to get rid of it in its entirety but that is a long project. In the meantime, that is the one concern I have with the response. Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-07-01/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:08+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-01