This morning the Leaving Cert results are in the computer and ready to go. But students will have to wait until Wednesday, when results will be delivered to schools and, at noon, posted on the Internet, writes Kathryn Holmquist, Education Correspondent
As anticipation builds, it's looking increasingly likely that beneficial allowances in scoring will have been made not just in chemistry, but also in physics, biology and possibly maths.
The State Examinations Commission will reveal on Wednesday morning how it has compensated students in chemistry, after the commission was forced to admit that the higher-level exam contained a question not on the syllabus.
The commission will also indicate whether similar allowances have been made in other subjects.
While the issues over chemistry are clear at this point, the commission has been unwilling to divulge its approach to other subjects which drew controversy.
Maths has also been a tricky area this year. Last year, 75 per cent of those who took higher-level maths secured an honour. This year, though, the exceptional difficulty of the higher-level maths exams sent even diligent students into a state of panic. It also provoked severe criticism from maths teachers.
Some claimed that the paper included an inappropriate applied maths question which was not on the general maths syllabus and which many students found impossible to answer. The commission has continued to insist that the question was, indeed, on the syllabus.
The commission was meeting as late as Friday evening to ensure that the marking system has remained fair. The Leaving Cert results will be finalised as of today.
The commission will have been particularly rigorous in its monitoring of maths and science subjects this year, in the light of last year's results which showed high failure rates in science and maths at ordinary level.
This led the Minister for Education, Mr Dempsey, to launch an investigation into why some subjects in the Leaving Cert appeared to be marked more harshly than others.
However, the remarkable consistency of Leaving Cert scores over the past four years indicates that there is considerable flexibility in marking, although this is tightly controlled.
Tweaking results in the interest of fairness for students is an important part of the marking process.
Scientific methods are applied to scoring in order to achieve equanimity. Results are compared to results of previous years and if any significant difference emerges, the commission investigates the cause and recommends adjustments to markers.
Nearly half of Leaving Cert students will access their exam results on the Internet from noon on Wednesday.
Access to the service, which requires the use of an examination number and a unique candidate personal identification number, is through www.examinations.ie
Candidates also have the option of accessing their results by telephone, at 1530 719 290 for callers within the Republic of Ireland. Calls cost 33c per minute inclusive of VAT. The number for people outside the State is 00 353 1 2588588. International call rates apply.