Security tightened as 115k students await State exams

Security measures have been tightened around the Junior and Leaving Certificate exams to avoid repeats of embarrassing and costly incidents.

About 52,500 Leaving Certificate students, 2,853 entered for Leaving Certificate Applied and 60,000 Junior Certificate candidates will start the exams in schools and other centres around the country tomorrow morning.

The State Examinations Commission has reviewed procedures after a packing error last year meant that replacement Leaving Certificate Irish exams had to be given to students. It emerged that the CD for their listening test was accidentally sent to exam centres for students with special needs instead of the Junior Certificate aural CD being examined three days earlier. Although it was unclear if it was played to any students, the SEC decided to order the back-up Leaving Certificate papers be distributed, as questions on the CD feature on the same paper as those for the written exam.