Leftfield: A four year plan to turn the CAO into a one stop shop

The Central Applications Office aims to provide a one-stop shop for all applicants to postsecondary education. Our strategic plan for 2013-7 sets out an ambitious programme for one of the most trusted and recognisable organisations in Irish education.

The CAO was established in 1976 to centrally process applications for first-year entry to undergraduate courses. Back then the office embraced just five institutions, offering 69 level-eight courses with just 14,875 school-leaver applicants.

Now 45 educational institutions are within the CAO system, catering for 77,000 applications to 1,380 courses at National Framework of Qualifications levels six, seven and eight.

Postsecondary education is in flux once again. The needs of education providers are changing, as are those of students. Colleges are seeking different types of students at different stages of life. Institutions and students are interacting through new forms of technology and social media.

When the CAO was set up almost all students went into higher education directly from school. That’s no longer the case. The plan recognises these changes, as well as new models of teaching and learning, multiple entry routes, increases in participation in higher education and an increasingly diverse student population.

About 140,000 applications to higher-education institutions are received every year, of which 55 per cent are processed by the CAO; 15 per cent are handled by the Postgraduate Applications Centre; 25 per cent are handled by the 29 individual education providers.

Why does the Irish education system, small as it is, require a quarter of its postsecondary applications to be processed individually by institutions? Our plan addresses this multitude of diverse systems head on. We will broaden the services of the CAO to become the leading provider of application-processing services for all Irish postsecondary-education providers. We hope to deliver more services to more institutions and more categories of student and, ultimately, to replace duplication with a single, central application system for all students wishing to enter the Irish postsecondary-education system.

Importantly, there is no plan to increase the fees charged to students for submitting applications. The CAO is, and will remain, completely self-financing.

There are many beneficiaries of this new strategy. Applicants can avail of a single point of entry for all applications to postsecondary education. Improvements to the web and search functionality, and the introduction of new ways of engaging with applicants through social media, including the CAO app, will improve the applicant experience.

Higher-education institutions and other postsecondary-education providers will benefit from the extension of the most cost-effective shared service in higher education by the reduction in the administrative burden on admissions officers. In addition, an enhanced user interface and improved reporting will benefit all education stakeholders in the decisionmaking process.

Given the tough economic climate, it’s worth noting that Ireland will benefit through the reduction of wasteful duplication across multiple institutions, but also through the possible co-ordinated promotion of education abroad.

There is a misconception that the CAO makes decisions on admissions, but the office concerns itself solely with dealing fairly and efficiently with student applications. All admission decisions in regard to courses, entry requirements and number of places remain with the higher-education institutions.

This plan was developed following an extensive research and consultation process. We met with more than 30 organisations, as well as many individuals, and conducted a detailed review of international best practice and emerging trends in both application processing and its supporting technology.

What has emerged is an exciting and challenging new direction for the CAO and one that will help transform the applications process for both students and higher-education institutions.

Ivor Gleeson is chief executive of the Central Applications Office