Below is a statement from Campion College in response to statements made by Dr. Dennis Minott in the article 'Campion, Dennis Minott at odds over transcripts', carried in The Gleaner on Monday.

Campion College wishes to state categorically that there is no formal relationship between itself and Dr. Dennis Minott/AQUEST. Further, Doctor Minott's charge that transcripts now issued by our school are 'grossly erroneous', is baseless.

Over the years we have consulted with admissions officers from leading universities in the United States, who have all assured us that our transcripts are accurately and properly generated. The Campion College transcript is therefore recognised as a valid and reliable assessment of student aptitude, and on its strength, graduates of Campion College continue to gain entry to some of the most prominent and prestigious American universities.

There has been no change in the method of "production and derivation" of our transcripts. The only difference is that the student's grade point average is now printed on the transcript. Previously this average would only have been recorded on the school report form issued by U.S. universities.

Calculating the grade point average

Doctor Minott disagrees with our method of calculating our students' grade point average. For over 20 years, Campion has calculated GPA's using students' marks/grades from Grade nine upwards. We do not, and have never, included grades/marks from Grades seven and eight, because we know that in the U.S. school system, grade point averages are calculated from Grade nine. Although the grades achieved by a student at Campion in grades seven and eight are not computed in his/her grade point average, those grades are clearly recorded on the transcript. In addition, there is an annotation on each transcript declaring that the GPA is calculated from grade nine.

We are fully aware that including grades earned in first and second form would increase the grade point average of all our students, but we are convinced that this practice would seriously compromise the validity of our transcripts for the U.S. school system. Campion College is anxious to give its students every advantage in the competition for places in overseas universities. However, it is not prepared to do so by questionable means which would compromise our school's reputation and integrity.