Q&A: What's happening with this year's Leaving Cert results?

Leaving Cert students will get their results next Friday, September 3, online at 10am.

Leaving Cert students this year were assessed under a ‘two-track’ approach, with Ireland believed to be one of the only countries to offer students the opportunity to sit their final exams or receive a form of predicted grade. 

Ahead of results day next Friday, September 3, the State Examinations Commission (SEC) has published more information on the process. 

Q: What was the ‘two-track' approach to the Leaving Cert?

A: This year, due to disruption as a result of the pandemic, Leaving Cert students had the option to either sit their exams, receive an ‘accredited grade’, or both. With students to receive the better of the two grades, most students opted for a mix of both forms of assessment.

Q: How will students receive their results?

A: Leaving Cert students will get their results next Friday, September 3, online at 10am. Schools are being asked to keep in mind the ongoing pandemic and to allow students to call in at a scheduled time in line with public health advice.

Q: What set of results will students see that day?

A: On results day, all students will just see one set of results. If they opted for a mix of both exams and accredited grades, they will just see the grade for whichever assessment they scored higher in. Next Friday, it will not say which form of assessment this was.

Q: When can I access the data that shows what accredited or exam grade I got?

A: On Tuesday, September 7, at 5pm, students will be provided with detailed information about their examinations and accredited grades. As this is also the day of CAO First Round offers, students will need this data if they are considering an appeal under either process.

Q: How will ‘accredited grades’ work this year? 

A: The SEC is responsible this year for the ‘accredited grades’ model. It’s similar to calculated grades from last year in terms of using teachers’ professional judgment, followed by a standardisation process. 

The system is based on the same model as was used for calculated grades, according to the SEC, “although some potential refinements to that model are being explored”. 

The system has been rebuilt, using new computer code, and additional quality assurance checks are in place. It has also been developed in consultation with the Educational Testing Service.

Q: How does the standardisation process work? 

A: According to the SEC, the standardisation process seeks to “mitigate” the effects that can arise from different schools, despite best efforts, applying different standards in their estimation. 

While the school-based estimates may move upwards or downwards, candidates who received a higher estimated percentage mark than a classmate will not receive a mark that is lower than that classmate after standardisation. 

The standardisation process will not use historical school by school data on past performance in Leaving Certificate exams, but it will use the range of Junior Cycle and Leaving Certificate historical data at a national level to determine the particular distributions of results that are most likely. 

Q: How will appeals work? 

A: Like with calculated grades, an appeal for an assessed grade will be confined to making sure the data was uploaded and downloaded correctly during the process. 

With the written exams, students will be eligible to check their written scripts on Saturday, September 11. 

Applications for appeals will also open this day, and close at 12pm on Monday, September 13; we don't know yet when students will get the outcomes of appeals. 

The SEC said it is impossible for it to commit to a timeframe until it knows the full number of appeals it will receive. 

Students are expected to get further information about the process on results day.