Search icon

News

30th Sep 2020

6,500 Leaving Cert students received lower grades than they should have

Alan Loughnane

leaving cert error

She said the error “should not have occurred, however the error will not disadvantage any student.”

Around 6,500 students received lower grades than they should have in the Leaving Cert calculated grades system, Minister for Education Norma Foley has said.

Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, Norma Foley said the Department of Education had found two errors in the Leaving Certificate calculated grades system, confirming what Taoiseach Micheál Martin said in the Dáil earlier today.

She said the error came from a line of code used to implement the standardisation process.

It’s understood the Minister was notified of the error last Wednesday and another error was discovered on Friday following a further investigation.

Minister Foley said it was important to find out more about the error before any official announcement was made.

She said the error “should not have occurred, however the error will not disadvantage any student.”

The first error

The error affected the way in which candidates’ Junior Cycle results were included in the standardisation process.

The model for calculating grades was supposed to include the three core subjects from the junior cycle, Irish, English and Maths as well as the two strongest non-core subjects.

However, the error meant the two weakest non-core subjects were used by the model.

The second error

The second error discovered related to the subject of Civic Social and Political Education (CSPE), which was supposed to be excluded from the model, but was not excluded due to the error.

What we know so far:

  • 6,500 students received a grade lower than they should have.
  • 7,200 students in total were affected by the error.
  • Those marked down will be issued with a corrected grade.
  • The circa 700 students who received a higher mark than they should have will not have their grades adjusted.
  • Students will receive a text message to inform them if they have been affected by the error.
  • Any student who would have been entitled a higher preference CAO offer if they received their correct grade on 7 September will receive this offer as soon as is practical after the results are updated.

Minister Foley said the Department of Education and Skills has put in place a dedicated helpline and email address to answer queries from students.

The helpline number is 01 8892199 and the email address is [email protected].

The helpline will be open until 7pm today and from 10am to 5pm tomorrow.

More information can be found in the thread below.

Main image via RTE

LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ with Conor Sketches | Tiger Woods loves Ger Loughnane and cosplaying as Charles LeClerc