Mr. Lewis Purser:

As regards the immediate steps, I fully support the remarks of my colleagues. The most important thing is for the Department of Education to signal clearly that the ongoing delays in the publication of leaving certificate results will be remedied. It is probably too late for 2023 but those signals need to go out now to encourage students who will be doing their A level exams in Northern Ireland and elsewhere in 2024. The Department must give a commitment to providing an improved timeline. It also needs to outline clearly that it will bring the profile of leaving certificate grade results back to a pre-Covid norm. That has happened in all other European Union countries and the various jurisdictions or education systems within the UK. This is important in the context of rebalancing A level equivalences to leaving certificate points. In a fluctuating situation where leaving certificate points continue to be inflated, it is very unfair for applicants applying with other types of systems. We have had no indication yet from the Department of Education as to when leaving certificate points will return to pre-Covid normality or, indeed, if they ever will. It is very difficult to calibrate between two different systems in that complete absence.