'Every aspect' of Leaving Cert grading model will be released today

Minister Norma Foley has said that neither the location of the school nor the gender of the pupil were used as part of the model to standardise grades.

The Education Minister has said "every aspect of the model" used to calculate Leaving Cert grades will be released today.

More than 61,000 pupils are receiving their Leaving Certificate results online this morning, with significant increases recorded across each subject.

The calculated grades process has resulted in marks that are on average 4.4% higher than those of last year.

The marks have been arrived at through a combination of individual teacher grading and a controversial standardisation model.

"What emerged was a stronger grade profile compared to previous years, but much much less than what would have been achieved by relying solely on the teacher estimates," Norma Foley said.

Wishing students well, Ms Foley has said that neither the location of the school nor the gender of the pupil were used as part of the model to standardise grades.

"The absolute starting point for the standardisation process was the percentage mark and rank order provided by the schools.

"Following that, there was the achievement of this particular Leaving Certificate group, the class of 2020, their achievement, a junior cycle and then the national standard, subject by subject, over the past three years, and all of that combined to provide what we now today will release as the calculated grades for the students," she told RTÉ's Morning Ireland.

Percentages and forms filled out by teachers will be available to view next week 

CAO offers will be published on Friday, but students will have to wait until next Monday to view the percentage mark given to them by their own teachers.

Ms Foley said the two forms which teachers had to fill in as part of the grading process will be available to view by pupils next week.

She said "no instruction" had been given to destroy paperwork relating to the marking students came from the Department of Education.

Ms Foley said the Department has followed the same approach as other Leaving Cert years in publishing results today and then providing the opportunity to question and appeal those results next week.

Meanwhile a detailed technical report on the model used to calculate grades will be published by the Department of Education later today.

"My understanding is it runs to 250 pages and that everybody who has been talking about getting the algorithm will get more than they bargained for because it contains not just the technical information on the model that was used, but they also discuss at length models that they thought about using and didn't," said Professor Anne Looney Executive Dean of the Institute of Education DCU.

"It also includes details of how the system was governed and organized so we're going to get full transparency on that I think most people will welcome that," she told RTÉ's Morning Ireland.