WATCH: £23 million funding package for extra university places in NI and PPE in schools

By Q Radio News

Almost £4 million is being provided to create extra university places following the cancellation of A-levels in Northern Ireland.

This includes medical, nursing and midwifery courses, Finance Minister Conor Murphy said.

More cash is also being allocated for personal protective equipment (PPE) at schools coping with the pandemic.

Mr Murphy said: “While the university admissions process is still ongoing, the Executive nevertheless wants to provide as much clarity and certainty as possible to both our universities and students.

📹 Finance Minister @conormurphysf outlines how the £22.93m of COVID funding agreed by the Executive will support additional Higher Education places that may be required for the 2020/21 academic year, as well as PPE for schools.

Read more here ▶ https://t.co/Sf2DNJX7ye pic.twitter.com/hJLWv02Nnb

— Dept of Finance (@dptfinance) September 11, 2020

“That is why we have committed to funding for additional places that may be required for the duration of the course.”

The sum is worth up to £3.73 million.

The minister added: “Future year funding will be ring-fenced for this as part of the upcoming budget process.”

School exams were called off due to the coronavirus lockdown.

Initially, 37% of final A-level results were lower than grades estimated by teachers due to the standardisation process used.

Following an announcement by Education Minister Peter Weir, A-level and AS-level students were awarded the highest grade either predicted by their teachers or awarded officially.

That means more pupils have met university offer requirements.

Mr Weir’s U-turn followed trenchant criticism of how A-levels were graded.

The minister said his primary concern was to ensure that young people in Northern Ireland were not disadvantaged in comparison to peers elsewhere.

Schools had been asked to give predicted grades but other data was used by exams body CCEA to standardise results.

Standardisation aimed to prevent a situation where a school could give all its pupils unrealistically high marks.

Mr Weir’s decision followed changes to A-level results for students in other parts of the UK.

A further £19.2 million is also being provided for school PPE in Northern Ireland.

Mr Murphy added: “This will assist education settings to continue to provide a safe learning environment for our children and young people.”