We have a date.
Minister for Education Norma Foley TD has announced that the 2020 postponed Leaving Certificate examinations will commence on Monday, 16 November.
In the announcement, Foley said this would be subject to public health advice and engagement with stakeholders.
Junior Cycle examinations for adult learners and early school leavers will also commence in November and will take place in the evenings and at weekends.
The postponed Leaving Cert examinations will take the form of written examinations only.
The Minister stated it would not be feasible or practical at this stage to conduct examinations in oral or practical components, or to try to complete unfinished coursework.
She said this is due to the fact many of the oral and practical components are school-based and would require significant levels of support at school level and also include taking teachers out of their schools to undertake state examinations work.
The Leaving Cert was originally postponed on 8 May this year with students being offered the option of receiving calculated grades and/or sitting Leaving Cert written examinations at a later date.
Students sitting the written exams in November but who opted to receive calculated grades will be given the higher grade achieved between the written exam and the calculated grades, while students taking the postponed examinations will be graded on the basis of their written papers.
The exams will follow the same question paper format, content and structure as in previous years.
For five subjects, the State Examinations Commission will also mark coursework which had been completed prior to school closure and include this in the final grading.
These subjects are:
- Home Economics (already marked by the SEC).
- LCVP Portfolio.
- Design and Communication Graphics.
- Physical Education (PE) Physical Activity Project.
- Engineering.
It was also confirmed that no students will automatically be awarded full marks in respect of any examination component in the calculated grades system.
This includes a cancellation of the initial decision to award full marks to students in their oral language and music performance tests, meaning that students will be awarded grades solely on the written papers.
