Alternative Selection Mechanisms

Into Higher Education

Lewis Purser, IUA

Further consideration of: Leaving Certificate results and their translation into points and entry requirements for admission in higher education; Partial decoupling of higher education admission from Leaving Certificate results; Entry into healthcare profession programmes; Improving the undergraduate student experience

From “Supporting a Better Transition From Second Level To Higher Education; Key Directions and Next Steps”, 27 March 2013

“Further and Future Work”

Having due regard to concerns in regard to the potential validity, objectivity and integrity of any potential measures, the possibility of using other forms of assessment or contextual information to complement the use of the Leaving Certificate in selecting students for higher education is being considered including: • Complementary assessments, including aptitude tests and specific

assessments designed to test higher order intellectual skills; • Student contextual information, including personal statements, student

portfolios, school reports and school references; • School contextual information, including relative performance ranking

within schools; • Interviews From “Supporting a Better Transition From Second Level To Higher Education; Key Directions and Next Steps”, March 2013

3.1.2 Partial decoupling of Higher

Education admission from LC Results

What additional attributes might one seek to test?

• Potential of student; interest of student; correct for socio-economic disadvantage; (higher-order) intellectual skills not assessed in LC; differentiation between small cohort of very high achievers.

Remarks

• Range of specific supplemental assessment tests available in the UK, often of a subject-specific nature.

• Difficult to find a test which will assess generic skills relevant to all courses.

• For such a test to be recommended in IE, would need all applicants to sit it, as an additional LC exam, which would also be a matriculation requirement. This would avoid impacting on non-LC applicants (e.g. international).

• HPAT experience shows that such a test can be managed in terms of logistics etc., and will have some effect on the entry cohort, but as yet there is no available evidence that the introduction of HPAT has led to better doctors.

Supplementary Admissions Tests

Discussion:

• IUA TGRUSE is not in favour of specific tests for specific subjects.

• What other options are possible in order to identify additional desirable attributes?

• If additional test needed, should it be included as an additional element of LC?

Supplementary Admissions Tests

What are these?

• e.g. personal statements; portfolio of work and validated achievements; e-portfolios:

Remarks:

• What competences or attributes are being sought through an e-portfolio? Would these be sought in all courses, or certain courses?

• Junior Certificate currently integrating an e-portfolio element which could be built on at LC

• If LC were to include an e-portfolio element, which sought to identify learning outcomes also validated by higher education, and this became part of the LC assessment and grading, then no need for a supplementary student submission

• Some of these supplementary student submissions may be forms of assessment which are included in summary of a student’s 2nd level achievements, either within LC assessment methods or through a school record (see School Reports and References).

• Issues of validity and scalability are likely to remain problematic.

• UK research shows personal statements are not “SEG-neutral” (Sutton Trust, 2012)

Supplementary Student Submissions

Discussion:

• Should DES/SEC add a special part to LC assessment re problem solving?

• What particular things could personal statements or (e-)portfolios be used to assess?

Supplementary Student Submissions

1. What is the potential for using references provided by schools regarding a candidates suitability for higher education?

• Not clear how HEIs use these to make admissions decisions. Need to look in more detail at US, AUS or UK admissions practices.

• Use of school references is/was a feature in Ireland of transition between primary and second level schools, but is not favoured practice

Discussion: Points Commission (1999) was not in favour of the use of school references. Should this recommendation change?

School Reports / References

2. What is the potential for using reports provided by schools based on a candidate’s academic performance during the senior cycle years prior to the LC (or equivalent)?

• Could be useful to get a “Grade Point Average (GPA)” based on continuous assessment at 2nd level senior cycle, and that this could replace and/or accompany a LC grade. E.g. a GPA could supplement the LC, which would allow students to avoid a bad exam.

Discussion: How would NCCA and other stakeholders react to this proposal?

School Reports / References

Remarks:

• Evidence available does not support the use of interviews on a generalised basis

• Already used for certain groups of students (e.g. matures) so need to be consistent….

• Important issues of scalability

Discussion:

• Could interviews be used around the margins for some courses?

• Would interviews help identify student potential where other methods fail?

Use of Interviews as a Selection

Measure for Admission

Why: address issue of social equity, compensate for disadvantage. What: 2 possible measures: • In-school ranking • School weighting based on average performance over several

years Remarks: • Need to identify workable measures to counter existing proven

disadvantage. • Could be used in targeted ways for discreet groups of schools • Could be used to combine ways to address challenge of social

equity • What are merits of either measure compared to HEAR scheme? • Should HEIs to introduce further measures of social engineering? Discussion: ?

Adjusting for Difference in School

Performance

For entry in September 2014, to • History (TR003), • Law (TR004), • Ancient and Medieval History and Culture (TR028). Students will apply through the CAO, and provide supplementary information:

1. information requested in the Trinity Application Form (TAF), to include educational background and achievements, personal statements and essays.

2. statement from the applicant’s secondary school confirming the names of the school or schools the applicant has attended.

TCD Feasibility Study

Application will be assessed using 3 sources of information: 1. Leaving Certificate results.

2. Relative Performance Rank (RPR) – the performance of the applicant relative to other applicants from their school. This scale looks at the rank of the applicant compared to every other applicant from their school who has applied to any course, in any college, through the CAO.

3. Personal and Contextual Data – provided via supplementary materials submitted by the applicant. Supplementary information will be made completely anonymous before being evaluated

10 places have been set aside for History, 10 for Law, and 5 for Ancient and Medieval History and Culture; other places will be filled as normal

TCD Feasibility Study

“The following issues are being considered:

1. Specific recommendations on the future use of HPAT for admission to undergraduate programmes;

2. A consideration of whether or not very high demand courses in the health professions should only be available as graduate-entry programmes.”

From “Supporting a Better Transition From Second Level To Higher Education; Key Directions and Next Steps”, March 2013

3.1.3 Entry Into Healthcare

Professional Programmes

• c. 1/3 of those who secured a place in medicine (2009) would not previously have done so

• > 2/5 of those who secured a place in medicine (2010) would not previously have done so

• Candidates who repeat the HPAT-Ireland test are likely to improve their score.

HPAT – Ireland Review Findings

• Single-sitting rule means candidates are now far less likely to repeat the LC examination

• The minimum CAO entry scores (LC and HPAT-Ireland combined score) needed for selection into medicine have increased from year to year.

• No evidence of change in the socio-demographic composition of medical student applications or intake

HPAT – Ireland Review Findings

Change 1: Revised Weighting of HPAT- Ireland Test Sections.

Effective from 2014

• The revised weighting scheme as outlined below will be implemented for the 2014 HPAT-Ireland examination and subsequent years. This change in weighting of the 3 sections aims to reduce the potential benefits of repeating the examination, as an evaluation of HPAT-Ireland has shown that Non-Verbal Reasoning scores can be improved through repeating the exam.

HPAT – Ireland Change 1

HPAT-Ireland Test Section Previous Weighting New Weighting 2014

1. Logical Reasoning and Problem Solving 1 (33.3%) 2 (40%)

2. Interpersonal Understanding 1 (33.3%) 2 (40%)

3. Non-Verbal Reasoning 1 (33.3%) 1 (20%)

Change 2: HPAT-Ireland Examination Results Valid for One Year Only. Effective from 2013

• The results of HPAT-Ireland examinations sat in 2013 and subsequent years will only be valid for a single year for admission to undergraduate medical courses.

• This means that it will not be possible to present results achieved in the 2013 sitting of the HPAT-Ireland exam for admission to undergraduate medical courses in 2014.

• Applicants who sat the HPAT-Ireland exam in 2012 will still be able to present their 2012 HPAT-Ireland result when applying for admission to undergraduate medicine in 2013.

HPAT – Ireland Change 2

Change 3: HPAT-Ireland Practice Material being made available to all Participants. Already Effective.

• Students who registered for the HPAT-Ireland 2013 exam received, as part of their registration, a copy of the HPAT-Ireland Practice Test booklet, which contains worked answers to assist them with their exam preparation. This change will continue to apply in subsequent years.

HPAT – Ireland Change 3

• “A consideration of whether or not very high demand courses in the health professions should only be available as graduate-entry programmes.”

• Why only health? e.g. US tradition in other professional areas…

• Does this lead to better outcomes?

• Implications for students, HEIs and State?

Graduate Entry Programmes

• To what extent can alternative selection mechanisms mitigate the ‘points race’ in disciplines with denominated entry (high-demand courses and specialised courses) or more generally?

• What risks are entailed in adopting these alternative selection mechanisms?

• Should high-demand courses in health-care (or other) professions only be available at graduate-entry level?

3 Key Questions for Today