Universities in the Republic are looking at ways of how they can increase the number of students from Northern Ireland following a decline in applicants moving south of the border.
The way A-level grades are converted into CAO points and the later release of Leaving Cert results have been cited as some of the reasons for the decline in students from the north applying for university places in the Republic.
The Irish Times has reported that the fall in numbers has now led some universities to consider setting a quota of places aside for students from Northern Ireland who accept college places on a deferred basis.
It is also understood that boosting A-level results in line with Leaving Cert grades may be considered.
The moves come amid reports that an upcoming ESRI report on student mobility in Northern Ireland is expected to reveal a decrease in the number of students moving south of the border over the last decade.
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Trinity College Dublin are among the institutions currently working to investigate how student numbers from the north can be boosted.
Vice-provost Orla Sheils told the newspaper: “We’re well aware Northern Ireland students are currently disadvantaged, both because of the timing of the Leaving Cert results and subsequent CAO offers and by the disparity in grades, given A-level grades have reverted to pre-pandemic levels.
“We are planning an expanded deferral quota to be accessed exclusively by Northern Ireland students to try to accommodate these students.”
The conversion of A-Level results during the CAO process was also recently raised by Sinn Féin.
A number of its MLAs wrote to the Republic's Minister of Further and Higher Education Simon Harris to express their concerns that the "current model makes the access of university courses by students from the north incredibly difficult."
Pádraig Delargy, the party's spokesperson on further and higher education, said: "The current model of admissions does not place A-level qualifications on an equal footing to the leaving cert.
"As a result this has made it difficult if not impossible for students who have studied less than four A-levels to access university in the south.
"This must change and qualifications north and south must be placed on a more equal footing by the CAO so that northern students can have greater access to courses in the south."
A spokesman for Mr Harris said he is "dedicated to finding ways on how we can further develop and support education on an all-island basis".
