The Minster of Education, Joe McHugh has announced his "Plan C" for the Leaving Certificate to the nation.
Under this new scheme, students can opt to receive calculated grades, determined by their teachers and verified by the schools, before being sent to a newly created section within the Department of Education to be standardised.
A statement from the Department outlines how the calculated grade will be measured:
A calculated grade results from the combination of two data sets:
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A school-based estimation of an overall percentage mark and ranking to be awarded to a student in a particular subject.
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Data available from the State Examinations Commission – this includes data on past performance of students in each school and nationally.
The combination of these data sets through a process of national standardisation can determine the grade to be awarded to each student in each subject, thereby resulting in a calculated grade.
Any students who are unhappy with their grades will be able to appeal, and should that appeal be rejected, they will be given the option of sitting the exams as per normal.
However, these exams themsevles will be postponed until is medically safe to run them.
"Plan A was to hold the exams as normal, however closure of schools and dominance of virus that proved impossible" said McHugh.
