Third Level Admissions
Seanad Éireann — 2026-07-01
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James Lawless (FF), Kildare North

That is a fair point. The Senator wants changes for the better, which is reasonable. The institutions have identified this issue. I have spoken to them about how the HPAT, for the reasons the Senator mentioned, is not necessarily the best valve with which to manage entry into these professions. They are refocussing on the leaving certificate, and I appreciate the issues he has raised with that. It is part of a wider rebalancing in having identified issues with the HPAT and how it was being leveraged. Perhaps it was intended to create fairness but it is having the opposite effect in some cases. That is one of the reasons they are rowing back on it.
I will take on board the Cronbach's alpha programme. It is something I can feed into. I have established that task force on broader education, which will look more widely at CAO reform, entry points into higher education, whether there is too much emphasis placed on a single exam, and when the students take up their place whether they can have that broader range of disciplines available to them. That will reduce pressure points in a general sense but will also provide an opportunity for students to sample different types of disciplines and have that greater familiarity before they make a move. That in itself will be a form of aptitude testing in the early stages. I will ask the commission to include the Senator's suggestions on Cronbach's alpha as part of that review.

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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