“One In five Higher Level Leaving Cert Calculated Grades were downgraded from their teacher-assessed mark by one grade due to standardisation, according to the Department of Education. At Ordinary Level, one in ten grades were downgraded by one grade …” (more)
[TheJournal.ie, 7 September]
“Minister for Education Norma Foley TD has today, Monday 7 September, announced the issue of the results of the 2020 Leaving Certificate to over 60,000 students. On what is a very different day than might have been anticipated, today the Leaving Certificate class of 2020 are receiving their results, following the completion of the Calculated Grades process …” (more)
[Department of Education and Skills, 7 September]
“No one said a Fianna Fáil/Fine Gael coalition was going to be easy. Two rival parties, so used to maligning each other over the past century, now must work together – and so far things have not been running smoothly. Last week, we saw how the current fissure could hurt the third-level sector …” (more)
[University Times, 6 September]
“CAO points for many third-level courses are likely to rise due to higher grades being offered to Leaving Cert students this year under the Government’s new calculated grades process. The Department of Education has confirmed that grades will be ‘stronger’ this year compared to previous years, which will lead to some grade inflation …” (more)
[Carl O’Brien, Irish Times, 2 September]
“The largest second-level teachers union in Ireland has expressed ‘some concern’ that 63,000 Leaving Cert calculated grades have been downgraded by the Department of Education …” (more)
[Jess Casey and Elaine Loughlin, Irish Examiner, 1 September]
“Almost one fifth of teachers’ predicted results for Leaving Cert students are set to be downgraded under the Department of Education’s new calculated grades process. However, a large majority (79%) of students’ estimated grades will remain the same. The remainder will be either reduced (17%) or increased (4%) …” (more)
[Carl O’Brien, Irish Times, 1 September]
“Teachers awarded more than double the number of H1 grades in many subjects than would have been expected in traditional Leaving Cert exams, the Department of Education found when the 2020 results came in from schools. In some subjects, the generosity of Irish teachers extended to a tripling of the number of H1s – the highest grade available on an ‘honours’ paper – than would normally be achieved …” (more)
[Katherine Donnelly, Independent, 1 September]
“Minister for Education Norma Foley TD has today, Tuesday 1 September, announced further details of the Calculated Grades model for Leaving Certificate 2020 and Minister for Further and Higher Education Research, Innovation and Science Simon Harris TD confirmed 1,250 additional higher education places to be offered on certain high-demand courses for the academic year 2020/21 …” (more)
[Department of Education and Skills, 1 September]
“Leaving Cert students are set to receive fresh details this week over how the calculated grades process has been adjusted to try to make results as fair and accurate as possible. The Department of Education is expected to this week release technical details of how the calculated grades system has been completed and refined in light of expert advice and controversy in the United Kingdom …” (more)
[Carl O’Brien, Irish Times, 31 August]
“Leaving Cert students who want to do the exams in November will be sitting their papers in the evenings and weekend. The Department of Education has today published arrangements for the delayed sitting of the June tests, which will be held subject to public health advice and engagement with education stakeholders …” (more)
[Katherine Donnelly, Independent, 26 August]
“Universities have sought urgent talks with the Department of Education to ensure the Leaving Cert results and CAO offer season do not descend into chaos …” (more)
[Katherine Donnelly and Senan Molony, Independent, 27 August]
“What just happened? Elijah Burke, a Leaving Cert student who was home-schooled by his mother, has won his High Court challenge against the Minister for Education’s decision to exclude him from the calculated grades process. He claimed the exclusion of students who were tutored by a parent or close relative at home from the calculated grades process breached his rights and was unfair and discriminatory …” (more)
[Carl O’Brien, Irish Times, 19 August]
“Leaving Cert students will have to wait a week after receiving their official calculated grades before they get to see their teachers’ estimated marks, the Department of Education has confirmed. This means thousands of students will not immediately get to see the extent to which their grades have been adjusted by standardisation measures which have proved highly controversial in the United Kingdom …” (more)
[Carl O’Brien, Irish Times, 19 August]
“Leaving Cert students will have to wait for at least week after their results come out if they want to know how their teachers assessed them. And they will not be able to see their teachers’ estimated marks and the class-ranking they got unless they apply to appeal the result, the Department of Education has confirmed …” (more)
[Katherine Donnelly, Independent, 18 August]
“A programme for the construction of six higher education buildings has progressed and will go out to tender ‘immediately’, the Department of Higher Education has said. Under Project Ireland 2040, the Government has pledged to deliver 11 higher education buildings across the country, which will facilitate an additional 8,000 student places upon completion …” (more)
[Shauna Bowers, Irish Times, 18 August]
“When Plan C for this year’s Leaving Cert was announced, people had concerns that the system would be unfair for students. It would mean that students wouldn’t be sitting the exams they had been preparing for for almost two years. Instead, they will be assessed by their teachers, coupled with a controversial ‘standardisation’ by the Department of Education …” (more)
[TheJournal.ie, 15 August]
“On 14 June the Department of Education and Skills published a Request for Information (RFI) to identify PPE, Consumables and Equipment Suppliers to support the education sector. This procurement has been managed as a negotiated procedure …” (more)
[Department of Education and Skills, 30 July]
“Minister for Education Norma Foley TD today announced that Calculated Grades results will issue directly to students through the student portal on 7 September at 9.00am. Results will also issue simultaneously to students’ schools. Schools will be asked to provide support to students in an appropriate way on the day, through enabling students to come to the school if they wish at a scheduled time, or to making guidance or other teaching staff members available by phone for students to discuss their options following their results …” (more)
[Department of Education and Skills, 21 July]
“The suggestion is that this year’s Leaving Cert results are delayed because they need to be able to stand up to scrutiny, but students are still in the dark about what ‘standardisation’ entails. And now it would seem they could remain in the dark about the particulars of this process until after they receive their results …” (more)
[Jess Casey, Irish Examiner, 18 July]
“Universities have expressed ‘surprise and disappointment’ over delays in issuing Leaving Cert results which will force them to admit students to courses later than expected. They say plans to bring first years on campus for induction and orientation in advance of the return of main body of students may now be cancelled …” (more)
[Carl O’Brien and Sarah Burns, Irish Times, 17 July]
