“Trinity has said that it is ‘too early to say’ when first-year students will be admitted to College in the next academic year, after the government’s reconfiguration of the leaving certificate was confirmed today …” (more)
[Cormac Watson, University Times, 8 May]
“Cancelling the Leaving Certificate is open to legal challenge, according to the Minister for Education. Joe McHugh admitted at the announcement of the postponement today that on grounds of ‘legitimate expectation’, the state could be liable to court action. The government has received legal advice that the state is open to challenge after announcing that they would be moving to calculated grades, by teachers and principals in lieu of the state exam …” (more)
[Aoife Moore, BreakingNews.ie, 8 May]
“Universities will use the government’s newly introduced calculated grade system for their admissions processes, while students who sit the postponed leaving certificate exams will have to wait until autumn 2021 to start college …” (more)
[Orla Murnaghan, University Times, 8 May]
“Am I better off opting for written Leaving Cert exams in the coming months or predicted grades? Students won’t have to choose between the two. All Leaving Cert candidates who were due to sit this year’s exams will be entitled to receive predicted grades if they so wish. The option of sitting the exams – possibly later this year or early next – will also still be there …” (more)
[Carl O’Brien, Irish Times, 8 May]
“The Leaving Certificate this year will not go ahead as planned and instead now the 61,000 students who were due to sit the exams will receive ‘calculated grades’ …” (more)
[Michelle Hennessy, TheJournal.ie, 8 May]
“All students to be offered the option of accepting Calculated Grades or sitting Leaving Certificate written examinations at a later date. The Minister for Education and Skills Joe McHugh TD has today (Friday 8 May 2020) announced the postponement of the 2020 Leaving Certificate …” (more)
[Department of Education and Skills, 8 May]
“What if it isn’t a tragedy after all that Round 2 of UCD’s big hiring fiesta cannot now be repeated, as planned, next year? I know, I know. I would say that. Pure sour grapes because our unit lost out ignominiously, yet again, in ‘Reach for the Stars’? No, actually. It’s not just that the Ad Astra bonanza was weaponised to punish Languages yet again …” (more)
[In a Strange Land, 8 May]
“Tens of thousands of students and their parents have been clamouring in recent days for the Leaving Cert exams to be cancelled and replaced with predicted grades. It now looks like they will get their wish. The Government looks set to scrap plans for exams during the summer and introduce a system where students will get grades or points based on a combination of their in-school assessments and class rankings …” (more)
[Carl O’Brien, Irish Times, 7 May]
“This year’s Leaving Cert students are expected to be assessed through predictive grades, in a radical departures from the normal State exams. These grades would be based on their performance in school, under plans that are set to go before the Cabinet on Friday …” (more)
[Katherine Donnelly, Independent, 7 May]
“Deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill has confirmed that the Executive Office will now take the lead on progressing the Graduate Entry Medical School at Ulster University Magee Campus, which is a key priority for Ministers, Derry and the North West …” (more)
[Derry Now, 7 May]
“The memo that will be discussed at Cabinet this morning is understood to contain detailed plans that are the product of weeks of work by Department of Education officials and others. It is the so-called ‘Plan B’ that Minister for Education Joe McHugh signalled a number of weeks ago …” (more)
[Emma O Kelly, RTÉ News, 8 May]
