“A draft grade standardisation model showed a fee-paying Dublin school would see a substantial reduction in its traditionally high Leaving Cert grades, the High Court has been told. The model showed Mount Anville would see a reduction in some subjects by up to 70%, the court heard …” (more)
[Independent, 21 November]
“The most unusual Leaving Cert exams ever get under way today, with extra-special arrangements for any candidate who is a close contact of a confirmed Covid-19 case. Some 2,569 students from the Leaving Cert class of 2020 have entered to sit the postponed written papers, with the first exam, biology, at 5.30pm. The number of candidates is around 4% of those who planned to sit the exams in June …” (more)
[Katherine Donnelly, Independent, 16 November]
“Sir, Pat O’Brien is correct (Letters, November 13th). The Leaving Cert exam has many faults but the calculated grades fiasco proves that anonymously marked exams are a must. However, the so-called ‘severe overestimating’ of grades that occurred this year might not all necessarily be the result of teacher generosity …” (more)
[Letters, Irish Times, 14 November]
“Sir, – One hears regular criticism of the use of Leaving Certificate results as the gateway to third-level education. The current system encourages learning by rote, it does not assess all the skills which are important for future studies, and it makes no allowance for a student having an off-day or not being in a position to sit all or part of the examination …” (more)
[Pat O’Brien, Irish Times, 13 November]
“Students sitting the postponed Leaving Cert, starting next Monday, are doing an average of two to three subjects each. Some 2,800 of the Leaving Cert 2020 candidates will take a total of about 7,300 written papers, with Biology Higher Level the most popular subject …” (more)
[Katherine Donnelly, Independent, 10 November]
“Next year’s Junior and Leaving Cert exams will take place ‘as normally as possible’ in line with public health advice, according to the Department of Education. In a statement, a department spokesman said all necessary measures will be put in place to ensure compliance with public health guidance in place at the time …” (more)
[Carl O’Brien, Irish Times, 10 November]
“The calculated grades awarded to students by some schools and teachers in the Leaving Cert had been a ‘severe overestimation’, officials from the Department of Education told an Oireachtas committee …” (more)
[Jack Power, Irish Times, 10 November]
“The Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) has said that if schools are being kept open as a priority, it will ‘not countenance or accept’ any attempt not to hold the written State exams next year …” (more)
[TheJournal.ie, 9 November]
“Teachers are seeking clarity on next year’s Leaving Cert, saying contingencies should be in place to make sure exams can happen, or parameters need to be set out in case teacher-assessed calculated grades are needed again. The Department of Education said the State Examinations Commission intends to run the 2021 exams ‘as normally as possible’, with necessary safety measures in place …” (more)
[Independent, 25 October]
“Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason no specific plan was put in place to address the disadvantage faced by the 8,000 students who sat the leaving certificate prior to 2020; and if he will make a statement on the matter …” (more)
[Dáil written answers, 20 October]
“The 2020 Leaving Certificate (Calculated Grades) appeals process has concluded and the appeal outcomes will be made available to students at 12pm today, Friday 16 October through the Calculated Grades Student Portal. In the processing of the appeals, the Calculated grades Executive Office reviewed a total of 33,301 individual subject records belonging to 12,216 students. This number excludes students who initially entered for an appeal but later withdrew their application …” (more)
[Department of Education and Skills, 16 October]
“Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will constitute an independent inquiry into the 2020 leaving certificate which would examine the circumstances leading to the cancellation of the exam, the design and implementation of the calculated grades system, the ensuing errors and omissions and the knock-on effect on the CAO process; and if she will make a statement on the matter …” (more)
[Dáil debates, 14 October]
“Students who missed out on college courses due to the calculated grades error have now been offered their places. Higher education minister Simon Harris said the offers had gone out on Thursday morning. There were 424 students who were identified by the CAO to have missed out on their desired college course due to wrongly being awarded a lower grade …” (more)
[James Ward, Independent, 8 October]
“A total of 400-450 new CAO offers will be made arising from the Leaving Cert calculated grades computer coding debacle. The figure covers offers at both Level 8 (honours degree) and Level 7/6, and up to one in four will be for places in Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin). The Central Applications Office (CAO) will issue the offers to Leaving Cert 2020 candidates on Thursday, in tandem with other Round 4 offers …” (more)
[Katherine Donnelly, Independent, 5 October]
“The president of the University of Limerick has said there may not be places at the university for all of the students affected by errors in Leaving Certificate results. Speaking on RTÉ’s This Week, Professor Kerstin Mey said while every effort will be made to accommodate additional students on their programmes, ‘it may not be possible to accommodate everyone’ …” (more)
[Justin McCarthy, RTÉ News, 4 October]
“The Minister for Education Norma Foley TD has updated Leaving Certificate 2020 students on matters relating to the corrected, higher Calculated Grades which are to issue to some students. The Department of Education and Skills will re-open the student Calculated Grades portal at 6pm today, Saturday 3 October, and all students who are due to receive corrected, higher grades, will be able to access their results …” (more)
[Department of Education and Skills, 3 October]
“The Dáil’s spending watchdog is expected to call in senior Department of Education officials to answer questions over the contract awarded to Polymetrika, the Canadian company at the centre of the latest Leaving Cert calculated grades controversy …” (more)
[Katherine Donnelly and Cormac McQuinn, Independent, 3 October]
“Sir, – Those who were mistakenly downgraded will get upgrades, which is only fair. On Friday we found out that some who were mistakenly upgraded will be allowed to keep their extra points. Well, it would be harsh to take them away …” (more)
[Letters, Irish Times, 3 October]
“For the leaving certificate class of 2020, it has been nothing but an enduring struggle. The constant confusion around the predicted grades system left a lot to be desired, but yesterday’s revelations that over 6500 students – or 10% of the overall examination number – have received an incorrect grade would be almost laughable, if it weren’t so tragic …” (more)
[Orla Murnaghan, University Times, 1 October]
“The President of the University of Limerick insists they’ll move mountains to accommodate students who missed out on a college place due to errors in the calculated grades system. A mistake on one line of code has led to around 6,500 students getting a poorer grade than they should, while it’s emerged that the same number received a higher grade …” (more)
[Clare FM, 2 October]
