Ninth Level Ireland

“Secondary students are feeling ‘unrelenting pressure’ as a result of constant testing from teachers who say the results may determine their Leaving Cert grades if exams are cancelled next year. The Irish Second-Level Students’ Union will tell the Oireachtas education committee on Thursday that many exam-year classes are sitting monthly or weekly exams …” (more)

[Carl O’Brien, Irish Times, 25 November]

“A memorandum considered by Cabinet before approving the exclusion of historical school data from the Leaving Cert calculated grades process cannot be disclosed on grounds of Cabinet confidentiality, the State has told the High Court …” (more)

[Mary Carolan, Irish Times, 24 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]

“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]

“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]

“The likely creation of significant additional higher education places for students denied college entry due to errors in Leaving Cert calculations will make an already bad lecturer:student ratio even worse and undermine the credibility of higher education delivery, the Irish Federation of University Teachers (IFUT) has warned …” (more)

[IFUT, 1 September]

“Minister for Education Norma Foley has said that the maximum number of third level places possible will be made available to students who have been impacted by the errors in the calculated grades system. Up to 1,000 extra college places may be needed for students due to errors in calculated grades issued to thousands of Leaving Cert candidates …” (more)

[Vivienne Clarke, Irish Times, 1 October]

“As the college year struggles to an uncertain start, 6,500 students and their families have been hit with a bombshell. Errors in their Leaving Certificate grading raise serious questions, with major emotional, financial and logistical implications about their future lives …” (more)

[Independent, 1 October]

“Up to 1,000 extra college places may be needed for students due to errors in calculated grades issued to thousands of Leaving Cert candidates. Minister for Education Norma Foley apologised on Wednesday for coding errors which resulted in at least 6,500 students receiving a lower grade than they ought to have received …” (more)

[Carl O’Brien, Jennifer Bray and Pat Leahy, Irish Times, 1 October]

“On Wednesday September 30th, it was announced that a possible 7,200 students who received predicted Leaving Cert grades have had a grade miscalculated as a result of an error in the calculation process. Minister Foley has said that 6,500 students will have one exam grade upgraded following the realisation of two errors in the ‘coding’ process …” (more)

[Gemma Farrell, College Tribune, 30 September]

“As calculated grades were released by the Department of Education, offers from the Central Applications Office (CAO) were made on Friday September 11th 2020. There was a mixed reaction to these results and subsequent offers, which was exacerbated by a media frenzy, as it was the first ever year of the ‘calculated grades’ process …” (more)

[Maebh McCarthy, University Express, 30 September]

“The disclosure that errors may have affected the results of thousands of Leaving Cert candidates has rocked confidence in the integrity of the calculated grades process. Until recently, the Government had breathed a sigh of relief. It had managed to avoid most of the chaos and confusion that marked the UK government’s shambolic handling of its calculated grades system …” (more)

[Carl O’Brien, Irish Times, 30 September]