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Leaving Cert exam candidates can opt for ‘calculated grades’ or sit ‘a postponed exam later in the year’ as Billy Ryle explains…
After a commendable, but unsuccessful, effort to provide a Leaving Cert exam for 59,000 candidates from 29th July, Minister Joe McHugh has finally conceded that it won’t be possible to go ahead with a written exam on that date.
At a press conference on Friday afternoon, the Minister didn’t completely cancel the Leaving Cert exam outright, but instead gave candidates the option of receiving calculated grades or sitting a postponed Leaving Cert exam later in the year when it is considered safe to do so.
Surprisingly, Mr McHugh announced that the State Examinations Commission (SEC) would not be involved in the calculated grading process but that a Special Unit within the Department of Education would oversee the entire process.
There won’t be an exam fee this year and candidates who have already paid will get a refund.
The calculated grades process will involve four steps…
• The subject teacher will estimate the mark and ranking for each student. Teachers will not be allowed to discuss marks or grades with the candidate or her/his representative. For the purpose of determining marks, teachers will use criteria such as performance over the course of study, class assessments, house exams, mock exams, coursework and previous results in the subject. Marks and, subsequently, calculated grades awarded will be based on the standard points and grading scales. The teacher will rank each student in order of merit in the subject class.
• The overall subject results will be subjected to an in-school alignment process whereby the teachers of the particular subject will work together to finalise their marks and rankings.
• The school Principal will review and confirm the fairness and equity of the marks and the ranking of each student in each subject.
• The Special Unit in the Department of Education will process the data provided by each school for fairness and to ensure that a common national standard is applied.
Marks will then be converted into calculated grades. Candidates will then be issued with a Certificate by the Department of Education, which will contain the calculated grades awarded.
Results will be issued as close as possible to the standard date in August for the publication of Leaving Cert results.
The right of a candidate to appeal her/his results has been retained in the system. It won’t be possible to appeal the decision of the teacher who has awarded the original mark.
Rather it will involve checking the data provided by the school, a review of the process by the Special Unit and a verification of the process by independent appeal scrutineers.
It all sounds very confusing! But all candidates have to decide is whether or not they want to buy into the process. Candidates will be contacted to know if they wish to be included in the calculated grades process.
Once a candidate opts in, she/he simply awaits the issuing of results. Alternatively, a candidate can wait to sit the Leaving Cert later in the year. It could be a long wait and certainly won’t be in time for college entry in 2020.
Candidates who opt for calculated grades are also free to sit one or more subjects in the later Leaving Cert if they are unhappy about the grades awarded.
So, at long last, Leaving Cert candidates have certainty. For those who opt into the calculated grades system, which will more than likely be the entire cohort, the stress and worry they suffered over the past few weeks has finally come to an end.
The calculated grades system is new and untested in Irish Education. It isn’t ideal, but in difficult circumstances it’s the only feasible option.
It’s time for candidates to turn off the computer, to relax with a good book and to get out for fresh air and exercise.
• Billy Ryle is a Career Guidance Counsellor and Educational Commentator
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