Leaving Certificate grades show downward trend

THE dramatic rise in top Leaving Certificate grades being awarded over the past 15 years has been reversed in the last two years.

Statistics released to the Irish Examiner under the Freedom of Information Act show that the proportion of A and B grades rose each year between 1992 and 2006, from 27.1% to 43.2% of all grades awarded in every subject.

But that number fell last year to 42.9%, and again this year to 42.6% of all higher level grades awarded to more than 52,000 students, who received their results last month.

A similar pattern can be found in the number of A, B and C grades combined for higher level exams, rising from 64.3% to 76.6% of all grades between 1992 and 2006. The proportion of these honours grades dropped to 76.2% last year, and again slightly to 76.1% in the 2008 Leaving Certificate.

The figures are included in a briefing document on this year’s Leaving Certificate results sent to Education Minister Batt O’Keeffe’s office, chief inspector Eamon Stack, other senior Department of Education officials, as well as officers of the State Examinations Commission and National Council for Curriculum and Assessment.

“While variations in grading are small from year to year, they are significant over time,” wrote a senior official in the department’s qualifications, curriculum and assessment policy unit.

Although the decreases are small, they represent the first change in the upward trend which has been the subject of much public debate in recent years.

Claims have been made that the exams were being dumbed-down but the report outlines contributory factors such as new curricula and forms of assessment, more student-relevant exams, the availability of exam-marking schemes and increased professional development for teachers, which has a budget this year of €42 million.

It is unclear if the successive reduction in high grades awarded across all subjects is the direct result of any particular factor. However, a similar trend is clear in figures revealed in the Irish Examiner on Saturday, showing that the proportion of students getting high points in the Leaving fell this year for the first time in almost a decade.

Selina McCoy, who has written numerous studies on education for the Economic and Social Research Institute, said the reduction could reflect a change in the school-leaving cohort.

“There have been slight increases in the numbers staying on to Leaving Certificate in recent years, so the extra numbers of weaker student who might otherwise have dropped out could influence overall grades and points,” she said.

“The figures also raise questions about the competence of those going on to college if their ability is declining slightly, and whether they would be able to meet the requirements to succeed at third level,” said Dr McCoy.

Central Applications Office figures show the proportion of Leaving Certificate students with at least 500 out of 600 points this year fell slightly to 8.5%, having risen every year since 2000 from 5.5% to 8.7% last year. The number is up from under 4% of students in 1995, and a matching pattern is clear in the proportion with 450 points or more.