Record number of appeals lodged by Leaving Cert students

The Department of Education has yet to commit to a date for the issuing of appeal results. File picture. 

The highest number of Leaving Cert appeals on record have been lodged this year by students unhappy with their calculated grades.

Almost 12,300 students lodged appeals in relation to 33,677 grades with the Department of Education by the time the process closed on this evening.

This broke the previous record set last year, when 17,037 appeal applications were submitted from more than 9,000 students.

The Department of Education did not provide a breakdown on what subjects are most commonly being appealed by students this year.

“The Calculated Grades Executive Office will now process these appeals as quickly as possible,” a spokesman for the department said.

There was no fee to appeal a grade this year, with the appeals process strictly confined to examining if there was an administrative error with a student’s calculated grade. 

The Department of Education has yet to commit to a date for the issue of appeal results.

It has said that every effort will be made to issue results in time to allow students to take up an offer of a college place within the current academic year. 

However, it has not guaranteed students it will be able to arrange this. 

Poorly timed

Appeals outcomes will be communicated to all students at the same time. Students who are unhappy with the outcome of their appeals have the option of sitting the postponed Leavin Cert written exams, according to the Department of Education. 

Today also saw the deadline for accepting the first round of CAO offers. Almost 80% of the college places offered to students last Friday have been accepted. 

Meanwhile, the move to have primary school inspectors visit schools to check for compliance with Covid-19 guidelines on behalf of the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) is ill-judged and poorly timed.

That is according to Damian White, the president of the Irish Primary Principals Network (IPPN). 

While it is not unreasonable for there to be checks, having the primary inspectorate organise inspections on behalf of the HSA is an "insult" to school leaders. 

School leaders are now on call, 24-7 in case they are called by the HSE in the event of a positive Covid case linked to their schools, he added. 

Schools are doing their "utmost" to remain open. 

"It is certainly not the time for school inspectors to arrive with a clipboard and checklists to be ticked to a school leader who has brought their school successfully back to operation in what is a very different reality."