The State Examinations Commission (SEC) will today, issue results to 2,202 candidates who sat the Leaving Certificate, Leaving Certificate Applied and Junior Cycle examinations between 16th November and 11th December 2020.

From 12 noon today, Leaving Certificate candidates may access their results through the SEC’s Candidate Self Service Portal accessible at www.examinations.ie and https://www.gov.ie/leavingcertificate/ Candidates will see exactly how they performed in the written examinations and will be able to print a statement of their examination results. Candidates who received calculated grades will continue to have access to their calculated grades through the same website links so they can make their own comparison between their examination results and their calculated grades.

The option to sit the Leaving Certificate examinations was offered to all Leaving Certificate and Leaving Certificate Applied candidates who had entered for the 2020 Leaving Certificate. At the date of commencement of these examinations some 2,600 Leaving Certificate candidates were due to take examinations across 6,700 individual subject entries. The numbers presenting for the examinations was significantly lower at 2,155 in 48 individual subjects producing 4,925 individual grades.

Of the overall number of candidates, some 1,700 had also received calculated grades. The remaining candidates consisted of those who opted out of the calculated grades process and candidates who could not be provided with calculated grades in some or all of their subjects as they were an out of school learner or were taking a subject outside of school. In this latter category, 460 candidates are receiving results today in 40 individual subjects, producing 582 individual grades.

In line with the commitments made, Leaving Certificate candidates receiving results from the later examinations who had previously received calculated grades will be credited with the higher subject grade achieved between the Calculated Grade and the written examination. The provisional examination results issuing today, indicate that 1,705 (39%) grades are higher, 1,220 (28%) are the same and 1,413 (34%) are lower than the calculated grades achieved by these candidates. Arrangements will be made by the SEC to issue examination certificates to all candidates at the 2020 Leaving Certificate following the conclusion of all stages of the examinations appeal process. For candidates who received calculated grades and also sat the examinations, the final certificate will be an integrated certificate combining the best results from both processes.

The SEC has provided the Central Applications Office (CAO) with details of the Leaving Certificate examination results for candidates who were not provided with calculated grades. For candidates who received calculated grades and who also sat Leaving Certificate 2020, the CAO has been notified of the

higher subject grade achieved between the calculated grade and the written examination. Some 1,136 candidates received results which are higher than calculated grades in one or more of their subjects.

Junior Cycle

The opportunity to sit Junior Cycle examinations was offered to adult learners and early school leavers and 60 candidates were due to take these examinations. Ultimately, 47 candidates presented for these examinations across 9 individual subjects and results of the Junior Cycle examinations will issue to the centres where the candidates sat the examinations. These candidates will have access to an appeals process.

Next Steps

Over the coming days a number of related services will be available to Leaving Certificate candidates through the Candidate Self Service Portal. Candidates will be able to see their marks including components marks in five subjects in which coursework was included in the overall results; apply to view their marked examination scripts; view their scripts online; and make an application to appeal. Full details of these services are being notified to candidates with their results.

SEC Helpline

The SEC will provide a helpline for candidates in relation to accessing their examination results. The helpline will open at 9 am on 2nd February, and will remain open until the appeal application closing date of Friday, 12th February at 5pm. The helpline can be contacted at 1800 100 135 and is available each day from 9am until 5pm.

Further Help and Support

The National Parents Council-Post-Primary, with the support of the Institute of Guidance Counsellors, will operate a helpline for Leaving Certificate students receiving their results next Tuesday, 2nd February 2021. The helpline will be staffed by qualified guidance counsellors and will provide advice to students and parents regarding the examination results. The helpline can be contacted at 1800 265 165, and will remain open until Friday evening, 5th February 2021. (Note: This helpline facility is not operated by the State Examinations Commission)

Ends

Notes for the Editor

Access to Detailed Results by Subject

It is the standard approach of the SEC to publish data on performance by subject and level with the press release announcing the issue of the results. Normal policy is not to provide data in subjects where the total candidature is fewer than 10. This is for GDPR reasons.

For these examinations, the detailed statistics of the results by subject and level, in subjects/levels in which 10 or more candidates presented, will be available on Tuesday 2nd February at 12 noon. With the low cohorts in each subject, there is a risk, even in subjects with more than 10 candidates; that a candidate scanning the results tables in a newspaper or online could infer their performance in advance of them getting their results at 12 noon on Tuesday. For this reason, the granular results data will be provided to the media at the same time as results issue to students.

Background to the Later Examinations 2020

Following a Government decision of 8th May 2020, the 60,000 strong class of Leaving Certificate 2020 was offered the option of accepting Calculated Grades and the alternative of sitting the 2020 Leaving Certificate examinations at a later date when it was considered safe and practicable to do so. The Junior Cycle examinations were cancelled and replaced with school-based assessments. Examinations were offered to adult learners and early school leavers in the later examination session.

The 2020 Certificate examinations commenced on Monday 16th November, with Leaving Certificate examinations concluding on Friday 11th December; LCA examinations concluding on Saturday 28th November and Junior Cycle on Friday, 30th November.

Examinations were conducted at evenings and weekends over this time with the support and assistance of post-primary schools and other examination centres.

A commitment was made that students who received Calculated Grades and who sat Leaving Certificate 2020 would be credited with the higher subject grade achieved between the Calculated Grade and the written examination. It was not possible to provide calculated grades to all Leaving Certificate students. Students studying an extra subject outside school and students studying for their Leaving Certificate independently of any formal educational involvement students were not, in all cases, able to comply with the requirements of the scheme.

Access to Results and Next Steps – What Candidates Need to do

Leaving Certificate Results

Leaving Certificate candidates should log on to the Candidate Self Service Portal at 12 noon on Tuesday 2nd February using their examination number and the password they created when they entered to sit the later examinations. Candidates should contact the SEC helpline at 1800 100 135 if they have any difficulty in accessing their results.

The appeals application service normally attracts a fee. In line with the Minister’s decision to waive all fees for the 2020 examinations, the appeal application services for the examinations are being provided free of charge.

Access to Marks

From 9 AM on Wednesday, 3rd February, Leaving Certificate candidate can access the actual mark awarded to them in their written papers. This includes the marks awarded to each paper in English, Irish and Mathematics. Candidates who took LCVP Link Modules, Engineering, DCG, Home Economics and PE will also have access to the marks of the coursework they had completed prior to the closure of schools in March 2020.

Viewing of Leaving Certificate Scripts

Leaving Certificate candidates are afforded an opportunity to view their own marked scripts after the initial marking process. The viewing allows candidates to satisfy themselves that the marking scheme has been applied correctly to their work and, in addition to enhancing transparency, is designed to assist candidates in deciding to appeal.

Leaving Certificate candidates need to be aware that the only opportunity that they will have to access their written examination scripts in advance of the appeal application closing date, is to apply to view their scripts online between 9 AM on Wednesday 3rd February and 5 PM on Thursday 4th February.

All scripts, whether marked on paper or online, will be available to view via the Candidate Self Service Portal. All of the paper marked scripts have been scanned to facilitate the online viewing. Access to view these scripts will be available online, between 12 noon on Tuesday 9th February and 12 noon Wednesday 10th February. Marking schemes will be available to further assist students in understanding their results. No viewing of scripts will be permitted outside of this 24-hour period.

Appeals

Leaving Certificate candidates can only make an appeal through the Candidate Self Service Portal between 9 AM on Tuesday 9th February and 5 PM on Friday 12th February. All applications to appeal results must be received before 5 PM on Friday 12th February and this deadline will be strictly implemented.

Leaving Certificate Applied Results

The results of the Leaving Certificate Applied examinations will be issued to candidates directly by email. Fewer than 5 candidates undertook these examinations. Leaving Certificate Applied candidates will receive details of how to apply to view their scripts and make an appeal application when they receive their results.

Junior Cycle Results

The results of the Junior Cycle Examinations for Adult Learners and early school leavers will issue to the centres where they sat the examinations. Junior cycle candidates will have access to an appeal process through their school/centre.

Marking the 2020 Examinations

Under normal circumstances standard-setting decisions in the marking of the certificate examinations are informed by both expert judgment and statistical information. However, in light of the small and non-representative nature of the cohort taking the examinations, statistical information on the overall distributions of results was not used to inform standard-setting decisions in 2020.

The approach to marking the later examinations relied principally on the expert judgment of the Chief Examiners and members of the senior examining team based on the content of the examination papers and the demands of the marking scheme. This expert judgment approach ensured that the standards applied in the marking of these examinations are fair and valid for these candidates, which form a small subset of the overall candidature for Leaving Certificate 2020.

The cohort for the later Leaving Certificate examinations consisted of students who had already received calculated grades; those who had opted out of the Calculated Grades process and candidates who could not be provided with Calculated Grades in some or all subjects as they were an out of school learner or were taking a subject outside of school. The examining teams were not provided with any information as to whether candidates presenting for these examinations had been provided with calculated grades or as to the grades awarded to those who had been provided with calculated grades.

The adoption of online marking, a key objective in the SEC’s Statement of Strategy 2017-2021, represents a transformational change for the SEC which is in line with public service reform and modernisation objectives, and Government digital strategies. The SEC used the opportunity of the later examinations to continue with the implementation of online marking in an expanded range of subjects in order to maintain the momentum of the programme. Some 80% of scripts in the later examinations were scanned, and the scanned scripts marked by examiners using a digital marking system.

Transmission of Results to the CAO

The SEC has provided the Central Applications Office (CAO) with details of the Leaving Certificate Examination results for candidates who were not provided with Calculated Grades. For candidates who received Calculated Grades and who also sat Leaving Certificate 2020, the CAO has been notified of the higher subject grade achieved between the Calculated Grade and the written examination.

Some 120 candidates changed levels between the Calculated Grades and the examinations. In the context of the new Leaving Certificate grading scheme and revised common basic points scale grade introduced in 2017, equivalences between Higher, Ordinary and Foundation levels were established as a matter of education policy. These grade equivalences have been used in determining the better grade between the calculated grades and the examinations results.

Admissions to Higher Education

Leaving Certificate candidates who are entitled to a higher CAO offer on foot of these results, will receive a deferred college offer to start their course in the 2021/22 academic year. Higher education institutions making improved offers to students will be in contact with them during the week commencing 8 February. In order to take up a deferred offer, students who have not already done so, must make a 2021 application to the CAO. Formal CAO offers of deferred places will issue in July.

If a student who has started first year of a course becomes entitled to a higher CAO offer following the written examinations and chooses to accept this offer in the 2021/22 academic year, attendance for the first year on the new course will remain eligible for free fees and SUSI funding as appropriate.

Statistics

Statistics provided below on numbers entered and numbers who presented for examinations on a per county and a per subject basis. Details are also given of the numbers of subjects in which candidates entered and presented.

As noted above, the detailed statistics of the results by subject and level in subjects/levels in which 10 or more candidates presented will be available on Tuesday 2nd February at 12 noon.

All results data is provisional and as such is subject to enquiry and appeal.

The SEC will also publish on its website www.examinations.ie statistical information on the results of the 2020 Leaving Certificate examinations for all subject levels with 10 or more candidates.

All Media enquiries to:

Paddy Quinn

Press Officer
Phone 090 6442832 or 087 7218521

Email: sec.pressoffice@examinations.ie

Jackie Wade

Deputy Press Officer
Phone 090 6442851 or 087 1804466