CAO offers: Unwinding of grade inflation may ease stress for students aiming for college but also raises prospect of litigation

Some will re-apply next year in the hope that CAO points may drop. Stock picture

Next year’s Leaving Certificate grades will be 2pc lower than this year on average. But this unwinding of inflated grades in the Leaving Certificate carries the “potential for litigation”, according to the outgoing president of the University of Galway.

Professor Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh wants a dialogue between the various stakeholders on how to manage a situation where future CAO applicants will be competing against previous years’ students who have higher grades.