Almost a quarter of Leaving Certificate grade appeals successful

A total of 2,729 results have been upgraded, 23.5% of the 11,648 appeals made. Picture: Julien Behal

Almost one in four Leaving Certificate grades appealed this year have been upgraded.

Separately, 28 students who had not initiated an appeal but who had their results checked as part of quality assurance have received an upgrade.

More than 6,100 students appealed almost 11,700 Leaving Certificate 2023 results with the State Examinations Commission (SEC).

The SEC applied a post-marking adjustment to this year’s exam results to meet a commitment set by Education Minister Norma Foley that there would be no ‘cliff-edge’ return to pre-pandemic grades.

Norma Foley gave a commitment that there would be no ‘cliff-edge’ return to pre-pandemic grades.

Additional marks were added, separately, to the marks awarded to candidates in each component, and were not open to appeal.

Where an overall mark changed as a result of the appeal, the adjustment was calculated again based on the new total.

In 2023, following the appeals process, and before the application of the adjustment, there were just over 770 upgrades, 6.6% of the total number of appeals this year.

This compares to just over 1,000 upgrades, or 5.3% of all appeals, upgraded in 2022.

Post-marking adjustment

However, following the post-marking adjustment applied by the SEC, a total of 2,729 results have been upgraded, which is 23.5% of the 11,648 appeals received.

In 2022 following the post-marking adjustment, a total of 3,769 results were upgraded, which was 20% of the 18,760 appeals received.

According to the SEC, a small number of appeals are still being processed.

The appeals process is used every year as a “further quality assurance check” by the SEC on its processes.

This year, quality assurance checks have resulted in 28 candidates, who had not appealed their result, receiving an upgrade. 

 “The changes in grades arising from these quality assurance measures are also being notified today to the candidates’ schools and to the CAO, and updated on the Candidate Self-Service Portal," it said.