THE STATE Examinations Commission has been forced to reschedule today’s Leaving Cert papers in English after a superintendent distributed the wrong paper to students in a Co Louth school yesterday.
The exam – English paper 2 at both higher and ordinary level – will now take place on Saturday at 9.30am. Some 51,800 students are affected: 34,500 at higher level and 17,300 at ordinary level.
Students at a school in Drogheda were given paper 2 instead of paper 1 yesterday morning. The mistake was realised by the superintendent and the correct paper handed out within minutes. However, news of the contents of paper 2 spread after students emerged from the exam shortly after noon yesterday.
The leak featured on the boards.ie website as early as 3.45pm yesterday. News of the leak was also communicated around the country by text message and e-mail.
It is a serious embarrassment for the State Examinations Commission, which took over responsibility for the exams from the Department of Education in 2003. The commission said it did not become aware of the leak until about 4.30pm yesterday. It said it was logistically impossible to reschedule the exam for today.
The commission is bound to be questioned closely about this as an alternative English paper 2 at both ordinary and higher level had been prepared months ago. Every year the commission prepares alternative papers for each exam in case of leaks or other problems.
It is understood the school in question stored the entire range of Leaving Cert papers under high security. It appears the superintendent in question handed out the wrong paper; there is no question of any malpractice.
But the leak will raise questions about the wisdom of allowing schools to store all the exam papers. The commission could come under pressure to adopt the practice still used by some schools whereby papers are stored in the local Garda station and collected shortly before each exam.
Paper 2 in English is perhaps the most dreaded of all Leaving Cert exams as students have to guess which of the eight poets on the syllabus will feature.
Yesterday’s leak is the first major security problem for the exam system since part of the Leaving Cert art exam disappeared in 1995. It was the furore following that incident that led to the establishment of the State Examinations Commission.
The exam system is now more transparent, with students able to examine how scripts were corrected and request a recheck if necessary.
A decade ago, there were allegations that a Co Meath teacher leaked part of an Irish aural exam to her students, but no charges were brought after a Garda inquiry.
Last night, Minister for Education Batt O’Keeffe said the integrity of the exam had been compromised by yesterday’s regrettable incident. The department says the regular Bus Éireann services will be made available for Saturday’s exam.
