Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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273. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if an organisation (details supplied) or another independent body will carry out a full audit of the coding provided by a company for the leaving certificate 2020 calculated grades process following the discovery of additional errors during the review by the organisation of a sample of the coding; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30186/20]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The decision to adopt a model of Calculated Grades by my Department was a result of COVID-19, which prevented the State from running the conventional Leaving Certificate Examinations this year. The system of Calculated Grades is a complex and sophisticated system. It had to be developed from scratch, specifically for the Irish Leaving Certificate, and within an extremely tight timeframe in order for students to get their Calculated Grades results in time.

Education Testing Services (ETS) was appointed to carry out an audit of a sampling of the coding following the discovery of two coding errors. This work needed to be carried out within a very short timeframe in order to issue revised results to students to enable them to receive new CAO offers where the upgrades gave rise to this. Based on their expert judgement, ETS identified key parts of the software and components to be examined.

On 3 October, I announced that I had asked that an independent comprehensive review of the design and implementation of the Calculated Grades process should take place when the process is complete. The independent review will consider key aspects of the Calculated Grades process. This will include: the initial decision to adopt the calculated grades model; whether the process met its objectives; how effective the process was; how that process worked in terms of design and implementation; and how effective were the governance and oversight procedures. The review will also encompass lessons that can be learned for the future.

The full scope of the review will be clearly set out in advance.

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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274. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the timeline for leaving certificate appeals; the timeline for dealing with administrative errors; the options available for students whose position is not improved on appeal; and the capacity of the appeals system to expedite individual cases. [30209/20]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The Calculated Grades Student Portal reopened on 14 September to allow students to view their estimated percentage marks and calculated marks and to submit an appeal for any of their Calculated Grades.

The appeals process is a process review focussed on looking for errors in the transmission and processing of student data through the process. It is not possible to appeal the information (estimated percentage mark or rank order) provided by the school. Due to the nature of the Calculated Grades system the professional judgement of the school is outside of the appeals process. The design of the statistical model and the application of the national standardisation process is also outside of the scope of the appeals process.

At the time of closing the appeal application process on Wednesday 16September, some 12,300 students had appealed almost 33,700 grades.

The appeals process is continuing as normal following the announcements on 30 September and 03 October regarding errors found in the Calculated Grades model. This applies whether or not a student received an improved grade following the rectification of the errors. This is because the appeals process is a technical appeal, focussed on looking for errors in the transmission and processing of student data through the process.

The results of Stage 1 and 2 appeals will be made available in the coming days.

The third stage of the appeals process, on option to have the process reviewed by independent appeal scrutineers, will commence after the release of Stage 1 and Stage 2 appeals results. It is not possible to provide an expedited appeal for any student or group of students. All appeals will be processed and results released simultaneously to ensure fairness and equity to all.

The CAO will be automatically notified by the Department of the outcomes of the appeals process.

If, as a result of an upgrade, a student becomes eligible for a college place at a higher CAO preference than the one they were already offered, they will be eligible for that course.

It is not possible to guarantee at this stage that, following a successful appeal, a student will be able to take up such a place offered in the academic year 2020/21. This depends on factors such as the number of appeals received, the nature of the appeal, and the higher education course being applied for. However, where possible, higher education institutions will attempt to facilitate students who are upgraded and receive a new offer.