'It's a fantastic achievement': Taoiseach and Education Minister congratulate Leaving Cert students
Rachel Desmond, Aoibheann Gough and Sorcha McCarthy are all smiles after receiving their Leaving Cert results at St Aloysius' College, Carrigtwohill, Cork. Picture: David Keane
There was relief and jubilation mingled with some disappointment as 60,000 students across the country received their Leaving Cert results on Friday, with candidates again boosted by artificially inflated grades.
The State Examinations Commission (SEC) said 68% of grades received a “post-marking adjustment” that increased their grades upwards, following through on the Government commitment that the class of 2024 would do no worse than the previous year.
There will be a “step-by-step” reduction in grade inflation starting in 2025, Education Minister Norma Foley has said.
Speaking in Listowel, Co Kerry after the Leaving Cert results were released, Ms Foley said that the adjustments to grades would begin to be phased out over the coming years.
Ms Foley did confirm that Leaving Certificate students in 2025 would still have inflated grades, but that it would begin to reduce after that.
“The State Examinations Commission (SEC) will determine how long that will take but I’m very clear it shouldn’t be a cliff edge,” Ms Foley said.
“It should be a very small reduction over a number of years. That will give an opportunity for students to return to pre-Covid levels.”
Taoiseach Simon Harris said Leaving Cert results day was a "milestone" in a young person's life.
"I hope our students across Ireland enjoy the final chapter in their school lives," he said in a statement.
"The range of emotions students will experience today will go from delight to disappointment but it's so important to keep everything in perspective.
"Receiving the Leaving Cert results is not only about points on a page but the beginning of the next stage of your life."
In a statement, the Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland praised the class of 2024 and congratulated them on their results.
“Your teachers are extremely proud of you,” its president Donal Cremin said.
Mr Cremin urged students to stay calm and take their time when exploring their options on what to do next.
A feature of recent years has been a shortage of suitably qualified people to mark the exam papers, which has led to delays in issuing the results.
The SEC said the situation with examiners was “vastly exacerbated” by covid-19. In 2022, there were 14.8% fewer examiners than 2019, while the number of students sitting the exams rose almost 5%.
However, it also said it has made “significant progress” in 2023 and 2024 to address these issues.
“A range of additional payments that were in place last year were in place again this year to incentivise the role of the examiner, including the continued payment of the additional payment per script for the satisfactory completion of marking and the recruitment and retention incentive payment,” the SEC said.
It added there were 3,827 examiners this year, an increase of 29% on 2022 numbers.
Elsewhere, parents and students have been advised support is available should they require advice on their next steps after the results.Â
The National Parents and Students Leaving Cert Helpline on 1800 265 165 will operate until Saturday August 31, from 10am to 5pm each day, except for Sunday August 25, when it will be closed, and Saturday August 31, when it will be open from 10am to 2pm.
The first round of CAO offers, meanwhile, will be issued this Wednesday.
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