Leaving Certificate Update

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Please see below a letter from the school regarding the Minister’s Announcement:

Letter to LC Parents and Guardiansdocx

All students to be offered the option of accepting Calculated Grades or sitting Leaving Certificate written examinations at a later date 

The Minister for Education and Skills Joe McHugh TD has today (Friday 8 May 2020) brought this time of  stress and uncertainty for sixth year students to a welcome end with his announcement about the Leaving Certificate. All students are to be offered the option of receiving Calculated Grades for the subjects they are studying and the alternative of sitting the 2020 Leaving Certificate examinations at a date in the future when it is considered safe to hold the examinations.

The Minister stated at the decision was taken with the best interests of students at heart was the fairest and most equitable way to do that in the current circumstances.

The following is a breakdown of the process to be applied for students to be given the option of Calculated Grades or to sit the examinations.

1. The 2020 Leaving Certificate examinations, previously scheduled to take place in late July and August, have been postponed.
2. There will be no Leaving Certificate fee this year. All exam fees which have been paid will be refunded.
3. Teachers will be asked to provide a professional judgment of each student’s attainment which will be subjected to a rigorous in-school alignment process to ensure fairness.
4. The school principal will approve the estimated scores being provided and the rankings of each student in each subject in the school.
5. A special unit is being established within the Department of Education and Skills to process the data provided by each school and operate national standardisation, again to ensure fairness amongst all students.
6. The Department will finalise the grades for each student which will be issued to each student as close as possible to the traditional date. Formal State certification will also be provided.
7. Students will retain the right to appeal. This will involve checks on school-entered data; correct transfer of that data to the Department; a review that it was correctly received and processed by the Department; and a verification of the Department’s processes by independent appeal scrutineers.
8. Students will also retain the right to the sit the 2020 Leaving Certificate examinations at a date in the future when it is deemed safe for state examinations to be held.

We hope that this announcement will provide much needed clarity for our Leaving Certificate students and alleviate the stress that has been building up due to the uncertainty of the last few weeks.