Decline in number of exam results withheld over suspicion of cheating or breach of rules

FEWER Leaving Certificate students than last year have had grades withheld for cheating or are being investigated in relation to suspected breaches of exam rules.

The State Examinations Commission revealed last night that the grades for 44 individual exam subjects were not given with the overall results yesterday. These included grades in 12 subjects — English, maths, Irish, French, biology, geography, business, home economics, chemistry, physics, engineering and agricultural science.

The results withheld also include those of some students in Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme (LCVP) link modules and the Leaving Certificate Applied (LCA), both of which feature course work submitted or carried out before the June written exams.

The decisions not to award grades is open to appeal.

For those already notified of results being withheld, the decision may result from activity during the exam itself.

A further 102 students have yet to receive a result in an individual subject, pending further communication between them or their school and the commission.

These results are in maths, Irish, geography, home economics, history, economics, agricultural science, LCVP link modules and LCA.

The suspected breaches of exam regulations involved may include similar work being noticed by examiners in the scripts of students from the same centre, or where an examiner discovered notes or paper brought into the exam during the script marking.

The SEC is awaiting responses from the students concerned before making final decisions on these cases.

A spokesman said the commission has a responsibility to ensure exam rules apply equally to all candidates, in order to uphold the integrity of the exams system and to underpin equity and fairness.

“Any incidence of suspected copying, improper assistance from another party, plagiarism or procurement of pieces prepared by another party are thoroughly investigated by the State Examinations Commission and the candidate is liable to have penalties imposed as provided for in the Rules and Programme for Secondary Schools,” he said.

The total of 146 compares to 152 such cases this time last year, although is relatively higher when the drop of almost 6% in overall Leaving Certificate candidates is taken into account.

More than 50 students had results issued following further communication with the SEC.

It is not clear if suspicion around the history or geography results concerned relates to course work submitted earlier this year for the first time as part of new syllabuses in both subjects.

Students who copied material directly from websites or other sources for portfolio work were among those to have results withheld for the LCVP in recent years.