Conference to Address ‘Undergraduate Admissions for the 21st Century’

May 15, 2012

A major one-day international conference on admissions will be held in the Trinity Long Room Hub this Friday May 18th and will feature expert speakers from Ireland and around the world.  The conference entitled 'Undergraduate Admissions for the 21st Century' aims to explore alternatives to the existing CAO system and whether it is possible to measure other criteria such as potential, motivation and suitability for courses, alongside academic achievement, for admission to third level. 

Speakers will include Professor Steven Schwartz, the Vice-Chancellor of Macquarie University, the author of a very influential report on fair admissions to third-level.  Other expert speakers on admissions will include Professor Robert Sternberg, Provost of Oklahoma State University and author of College Admissions for the 21st Century, and Dr Anna Zimdars of King’s College, London, who will provide a perspective on admissions procedures in the UK and the international context.  

The afternoon session will feature broadcaster and historian John Bowman who will chair a debate about how colleges might admit ten students on a hypothetical course, such as Law, using alternative methods.  Further details about the conference, and the full programme, can be found on the website at www.tcd.ie/undergraduate-studies.