Secondary exam fee waivers soar by 50%

The number of Junior and Leaving Certificate students getting a waiver from exam fees because of family circumstances has jumped by more than 50% in five years to nearly 42,000.

For the first time, more than a third of students qualified because they or their families had a medical card. The 36.5% of last year’s 114,614 exam candidates who did not have to pay the fees — €116 for Leaving Certificate and €109 for Junior Certificate — compares to just 23% in 2005 to 2007 when 26,000 to 27,000 a year qualified.

Although data on fee waivers for this year’s State exams are not yet available, the 2012 figures provided to the Irish Examiner mean around 180 students in the average-size second-level school of 500 students are from a family with a medical card. In 2007, the equivalent figure was fewer than 120, based on State Examinations Commission data on fee exemptions.