One in five Leaving Cert results upgraded after rechecks

Thirty-one students who did not appeal results get upgrades following quality assurance checks

More than 3,000 Leaving Cert results were upgraded this year following rechecks. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill
More than 3,000 Leaving Cert results were upgraded this year following rechecks. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill

Just over one in five Leaving Certificate results which were rechecked this year resulted in an upgrade.

In total, 3,123 results were upgraded, which account for 22 per cent of the total number of appeals, according to figures released by the State Examinations Commission (SEC) on Friday.

This is a similar proportion to last year when 23 per cent of results were upgraded after rechecks.

It represents just under 1 per cent of all the Leaving Cert results awarded this year.

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The appeal results have transmitted directly to candidates and schools through the SEC’s online portal.

A total of 7,268 candidates – or 13 per cent of those who sat the exams – appealed Leaving Cert results this year against 14,287 individual grades.

This is up on last year when 10.5 per cent appealed their results.

The SEC says it uses the appeals process as a further quality assurance check of marked exam scripts.

For example, if an issue arises with an individual marker, or question, sometimes other exam scripts will be rechecked which were not the subject of an appeal.

As a result of this process, it said an additional 31 candidates who did not lodge appeals have been given a subject upgrade.

In the processing of appeals, the marking of each candidate’s work is fully reviewed question by question using the original marking scheme.

The review is carried out by a different examiner to the one who originally marked the work.

The SEC said when candidates access their appeal results they will see whether their exam mark changed.

The issue date of the appeal results ensures that the Leaving Cert appeals integrate with the process for entry to higher education through the Central Applications Office (CAO). The CAO will be issuing its round five offers on Tuesday, October 1st.

Candidates who appealed their exam results may view their re-marked written examination scripts. The deadline for applying to view re-marked scripts is 5pm, Monday, September 30th.

Candidates may also refer their examination appeal to the independent appeal scrutineers.

The function of the scrutineers is to ensure that all of the exam appeals processes outlined by the SEC have been carried out correctly.

Carl O'Brien

Carl O'Brien

Carl O'Brien is Education Editor of The Irish Times. He was previously chief reporter and social affairs correspondent