Ms Andrea Feeney:

I thank the Cathaoirleach and members of the committee for the invitation to attend to provide a briefing on the 2022 junior cycle examination results. The successful delivery of the examinations annually depends on a broad coalition which includes school managers and leaders; teachers, including retired teachers, who are fulfilling critical roles; and the education stakeholders. The SEC recently announced Wednesday, 23 November as junior cycle results day. We acknowledge that candidates and their families may be disappointed that the date is later than might have been expected.

We hope to provide the committee with details of what is behind the delay in issuing results and of the efforts made, in collaboration with stakeholders, to address the most significant issue, which is a shortage of teachers to mark the examinations. This meant that marking in all subjects was not completed during the normal summer marking window. The results of the leaving certificate issued on 2 September, with the appeals issued five weeks later on 4 October. The deferred leaving certificate ran until 16 July for candidates who missed their examinations due to bereavement, serious illness or Covid-19. Additional time was also needed to give effect to the commitment that the results on aggregate would be no lower than in 2021, which was achieved through a post-marking adjustment.

The later leaving certificate results issue date has had an impact on the junior cycle timeline. Changes to the leaving certificate appeals timeline in 2019 saw an October date for the junior cycle results for the first time, by agreement of all of the stakeholders. This year, if the marking had been completed, the junior cycle results would have been due to issue to candidates at the end of October.

Turning to the issue of examiner supply, pre-pandemic, the SEC had been experiencing significant difficulties in attracting, recruiting and retaining sufficient numbers of teachers to undertake this vital work. Up to and including 2019, it was necessary to put in place a range of remedial measures to complete the marking within expected timeframes. The challenges we are faced with are evident from the statistics; the SEC traditionally recruited 4,000 examiners to mark the written examinations. This year, fewer than 3,000 examiners marked the work of 130,000 candidates. Allied to demographic increases, candidate numbers are 12% more than they were ten years ago. The number of examiners involved in marking the examinations is almost 19% lower than it was ten years ago. Junior cycle candidate numbers have increased by 5% since 2019, while the number of examiners has decreased by 30% this year. With the support of stakeholders, the SEC has made repeated and extensive efforts to recruit examiners in sufficient numbers for the 2022 examinations. These efforts included online advertising and marketing to teachers and schools including in teacher union publications; appeals to principals to take on a leadership role in encouraging and supporting this work; appeals to subject associations and support services such as the professional development service for teachers, PDST, and junior cycle for teachers, JCT and thousands of direct telephone calls and emails to teachers who had examined previously. Significant increases to payment rates were approved in recognition of the co-operation, flexibility and support needed. Leaving certificate rates increased by between 17% and 50% per script, while junior cycle rates increased by between 48% and 57% per script marked. A recruitment campaign called "Earn, learn and understand" highlighted the many professional and financial benefits of this work.

Despite these efforts, the numbers fell short and a range of interventions was needed to complete the marking of most subjects during the summer, which included marking well beyond the normal marking window and examiners agreeing to take on additional scripts. These measures, while necessary, put pressure on the examining teams and contribute to a poor examiner experience and impact retention. Unfortunately, it was not possible to complete the marking in all subjects. Further contingency arrangements have been made to ensure that the marking will be completed in the coming weeks. Unlike in the summer marking period, most of the teachers now marking are in schools during the day and only available at evenings and weekends.

The commission has an absolute responsibility to examination candidates to ensure that their work is marked to the highest standards of quality and integrity. Over the past three years, due to the circumstances created by the pandemic, delivery of the State examinations has been extremely challenging with many changes required to ensure delivery of the service. The ending of Covid-19 restrictions and the return to examinations as normal have exacerbated an issue which existed before the pandemic, one which challenges the management and completion of the marking and the ability of the SEC to issue the results. The SEC is extremely grateful for the co-operation it receives from thousands of teachers each year to undertake critical work in the State examinations, noting that this is voluntary, subsidiary employment which teachers undertake during their school holidays.

Recruitment and retention of teachers as examiners is not only a whole of organisation issue for the SEC, it is a major and urgent whole of system issue at second level. Addressing the issue requires regular engagement with key stakeholders and the active support and involvement of all the players, especially school management and teachers' unions, as well as the continued support of the Department of Education which has already provided improved examiner rates. The SEC will be reviewing with stakeholders how best to ensure the availability of teachers in the required numbers to engage in this critical work in the future. Our objective is to substantially increase the number of teachers involved so that the experience is a positive one which greatly enhances teacher professional competence as well as earning power.

On a positive note, the rate increases which were introduced on a once-off basis in 2022 have now been assured for 2023 with the assignment of an additional €11 million on budget day to maintain these increased examiners' pay rates.

My colleagues and I are happy to respond to any questions the committee may have.