Surge in suspected cheating in Leaving Cert as SEC 'permanently withholds' results from 62 students

According to the SEC, in the interest of being fair to all candidates, the SEC must be satisfied that marks awarded have been gained fairly and will investigate any suggestion, suspicion or allegation of cheating or other impropriety in relation to the examinations. Picture: Laura Hutton/RollingNews.ie

A surge in the detection of suspected cheating in this year's Leaving Cert exams has resulted in 62 students having results permanently withheld by the State Examinations Commission (SEC).

New figures provided by the SEC on Friday show 62 exam results from the Leaving Cert/Leaving Cert Applied have been permanently withheld this year, with the SEC confirming it had provisionally withheld an additional 10 Leaving Cert results, on a without-prejudice basis, pending further communication with the schools and candidates concerned.