Additional reporting by Vivienne Clarke.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said a decision on this year’s Leaving Cert will take place next week to provide clarity for students.
It was important for students to have class time to facilitate options and alternatives, he told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland.
Talks have been ongoing with teacher, parent and student representatives discussing potential options with the Department of Education.
Students representatives have called for a decision to be made urgently, to allow Leaving Cert students time to prepare for written exams if they are to go ahead in June.
Calculated grades are one option being considered, following the same process that was used for last year's Leaving Certs, but parents and students have called for a hybrid system that would allow students to choose whether they receive the calculated grades or sit the written exams as normal.
However, the chair of the Central Applications Office (CAO) has warned CAO points may rise even further than last year's record levels if another calculated grades system is adopted this year.
Speaking to The Irish Times, Professor Pól Ó Dochartaigh said a 9 per cent increase in applications this year is likely to put pressure on the points system which has seen almost 80,000 applications received for the first time ever.
Regardless of what form the exams take, the Taoiseach said the reopening of schools remained the Government’s priority, but there needed to be caution.
The Teachers Union of Ireland said they hope to see Leaving Cert students back in the classroom on February 22nd, but Anne Piggott from the Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland (ASTI) said March is a more realistic hope.
"I don't think the week of the 22nd of February is realistic. We are coming out of a lockdown, we certainly don't want another lockdown in April, so we would like the numbers to go down more."
