Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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95. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if the case of a person (details supplied) can be reviewed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32150/20]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The decision to adopt a model of Calculated Grades by my Department was a direct result of COVID-19, which prevented the state from running the conventional Leaving Certificate Examinations. In the absence of these examinations, every effort has been made to make the system as fair as possible for as many students as possible.

The process of national standardisation, which forms a key part of the Calculated Grades process, was applied to the information provided by schools in order to ensure comparability between the standards applied by individual schools and the national standard.  In order to be fair to the class of 2020, the teacher judgements made at the level of the school had to be adjusted so that a common national standard was applied. It was inherent to the system of calculated grades that school estimates would be subject to adjustment through this standardisations process. 

These adjustments resulted in the school estimates of subject percentage marks staying the same or being revised upwards or downwards. The standardisation process operated on the premise that the school estimates should only be adjusted through the standardisation process where there was credible statistical evidence to justify changing them. 

A standardising process happens every year and would have happened in 2020 had the Leaving Certificate examinations been run as normal.   In the system of calculated grades, the standardisation process applied uniformly across all subject and levels and school types.  The degree to which mark changes occurred related to the degree of over or underestimation in the school estimates for each subject and each level.  This means that some students experienced mark changes from the school estimates but no changes to the grades based on the school estimates; while others will have experienced marks changes from the teacher estimates leading to grade changes in one or more of their subjects. 

Following standardisation, the estimated percentage mark was converted to a calculated mark and subsequently, a calculated grade which was provided to students on 7 September. It is only at this point that students were awarded a grade. 

Therefore, it is not accurate to state that student(s) were downgraded, or upgraded, through the standardisation process.  Rather the grade that was awarded following the standardisation process is the grade for the 2020 Leaving Certificate (Calculated Grades). 

The overall data on school estimated marks showed that there was a very significant rise in estimated grades against what would normally be achieved nationally. This level of grade increase based on the school estimates would have been unrealistic. For example, based on the school data, there would have been 13.8% H1 grades this year when in a normal year it is approximately 5.8%. Even with the standardisation process the rate of H1s this year is over 9%.   

While some students will be disappointed at the results they have achieved, this is the case every year when the Leaving Certificate results are published. It may be more difficult for students to understand when they see the estimated mark from the school.

The appeals process for Calculated Grades was open to students who were disappointed with the Calculated Grades they received in one or more subjects. In addition, students had the option to register to sit the 2020 written Leaving Certificate exams due to commence on 16 November.

Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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96. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the breakdown of all appeals for the leaving certificate, by county and a breakdown of the 18 appeals awarded higher grades, by county, in tabular form. [32161/20]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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My Department is arranging to update the national statistics for the 2020 Leaving Certificate (Calculated Grades) results issued on the 7 September with the revisions to these grades which resulted from the coding error which led to revised grades being issued to some students on the 3 October and with the outcomes of the appeals process.  When the revised data set is published, a full gender breakdown of the national data will be provided at that time. 

Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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97. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if the locations for written leaving certificate 2020 have been secured and agreed. [32162/20]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The State Examinations Commission has statutory responsibility for operational matters relating to the certificate examinations.

In view of this I have forwarded your query to the State Examinations Commission for direct reply to you.

Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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98. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills her plans for the written exam of leaving certificate in the event of raised levels under the living with Covid-19 roadmap. [32163/20]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The State Examinations Commission (SEC) has statutory responsibility for operational matters relating to the certificate examinations. 

The SEC is continuing with plans to hold the postponed 2020 Leaving Certificate examinations in November 2020. The examinations will be run by the SEC across the school network and will adhere to all public health requirements. No decision has been made to change these arrangements. 

The Government has stated that schools will remain open during the Level 5 Covid-19 restrictions, which will facilitate the holding of the examinations. 

Some 2,900 candidates have applied to sit the November examinations, together with a small number of adult learners and early school leavers who will sit Junior Cycle examinations.  

Schools will be provided with extra supports to allow the examinations to be held safely, including funding for sanitising and cleaning materials. 

As part of its contingency planning process for the examinations the SEC included a contingency that, should the November examinations have to be cancelled for public health reasons, they could be held in parallel with the Leaving Certificate 2021 examinations in June 2021. The candidates in question, however, would be sitting the 2020 examinations, based on 2020 examination papers.  It should be noted that no decision had been taken in relation to these contingency plans.  The SEC’s clear plan and intention, and that of Government, is that the examinations will proceed as planned in November, with schools provided with the required supports to allow the examinations to be held.

In addition, the CAO arrangements that were in place for candidates sitting the November examinations would remain in place if these examinations were postponed, i.e. candidates who receive an improved CAO offer on foot of their results of the postponed exams, will also receive a deferred college offer to start their course in the 2021/22 academic year.