In 1973, I entered UCD to study commerce, with only two Cs in geography and business, also securing the other matriculation requirements including the D in ordinary-level Latin. After a few days, I decided to switch to arts (politics, economics and philosophy); this took all of five minutes at the registrar’s office.
That was a very different time, and I was fortunate to have been admitted in advance of the avalanche of students who would subsequently apply to higher education because of the introduction of free post-primary education in 1967.
During my spell in UCD, I noticed this rise in student numbers, and so too did the admissions functions of the higher education institutions who were suddenly dealing with an increase in demand and, in some cases, an excess of applicants over available spaces.
By 1969, UCD had developed a points system for medicine and architecture to assist in offering a fair admissions process based on order of merit. Other universities were also following suit. While points systems assisted in the selection process, universities were experiencing the problem of students applying to multiple universities, with uncertainty as to where these students were going to land in September.
This uncertainty was the motivator for university officials to come together in 1971 to discuss plans for a ‘clearing house’.
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