Leaving Cert results to be lower after further grade inflation reduction

The gradual removal of the post-marking adjustment at Leaving Certificate, which began in 2025, will continue in 2026.

Next year’s Leaving Cert results will be lower on average and closer in line with the results issued before 2020 as efforts to tackle grade inflation are set to continue.

Education minister Helen McEntee has confirmed that the gradual removal of the post-marking adjustment at Leaving Certificate, which began in 2025, will continue in 2026.

This will bring the overall results on the aggregate to just before 2020, when changes were first made to the State exams due to the covid-19 pandemic.

This year marked the first time exam authorities moved to address grade inflation, which soared in recent years due to changes to the traditional examination format in response to public health measures.

In 2025, marks on average were 5.9% higher than the overall marks issued in 2019, the last year the Leaving Cert exams ran as normal.

This adjustment resulted in more than 52% of students' final grades increasing, slightly less proportionally when compared to 68% of grades adjusted upwards in 2024, and more than 71% in 2023.

Following a meeting of the Government yesterday, Ms McEntee has also confirmed there will be a gradual approach to phasing out the assessment adjustments that have been in place for Leaving Certificate students in recent years.

These will remain until revised curricula and new format examinations are introduced under Senior Cycle Redevelopment.

“The 2026 examinations will take place more than six years from the onset of the covid-19 pandemic, and it is essential that we return to normal, pre-pandemic arrangements in order to maintain the integrity of these important examinations,” Ms McEntee said.

“However, I want to reassure our 2026 students that the return to normal will continue to be done on a very gradual basis. Results in the aggregate in 2026 will remain just under those in 2020, which were more than four percentage points above 2019 levels.

“Examinations in recent years have been subject to assessment adjustments, which gave students greater choice on Leaving Certificate examination papers, a reduction in the requirements for some coursework and, for example, a reduced number of sraith pictiuir for oral Irish examinations.”

These adjustments will stay in place until they are washed out by the revised specifications and examination formats on the way under Senior Cycle Redevelopment, she said. 

“This means that Leaving Certificate 2027 students will benefit from assessment adjustments in Irish, English and Maths as well as 29 other subjects.” 

A similar gradual approach will be taken to the phasing out of the assessment adjustments applied in recent years for Leaving Certificate Applied.

Junior Cycle students who are due to sit examinations in 2027 and 2028 will be required to undertake only one Classroom Based Assessment, as in recent years.