The arrival of Leaving Certificate results has always been an anxious time for students and this year is no exception – the new system of calculated grades has added to the uncertainty and confusion.
On Monday morning results were released to over 60,000 Leaving Certificate students in the Republic.
Having seen how it all went horribly wrong in the UK, Minister for Education Norma Foley and her Department faced a quick turnaround to try and avoid the pitfalls of the controversial algorithm used to calculate grades for A-Level students in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
In the absence of the annual Leaving Certificate exams in June, a system of calculated grades was adopted – but what does that mean for students?
Receiving results:
From 9am this morning, students had access to the results portal.
Students are required to have their exam number, their password and access to their email account in order to view their results via the portal. Students' results will also be issued to their school at the same time.
Students' grades were calculated by their own class teachers, before being standardised by the Department of Education. This was done in order to reduce the likelihood of students being marked too high or too low relative to previous years.
Upon examination by the Department, 79 per cent of grades given by teachers remained unchanged, while 17 per cent of grades were lowered and 4 per cent were raised.
The performance of a school in previous years was not taken into account in the standardisation process in order to reduce the impact such information would have on the results of students from schools in disadvantaged areas.
This was not originally done in the UK, which resulted in a much higher proportion of students from disadvantaged schools having their grades reduced compared to students from non-disadvantaged schools.
Like previous years, students will receive a grade from one to eight which will also indicate the level taken in each subject, H for Higher Level, O for Ordinary Level. As always, each grade carries a different point weighting which is used to calculate the student's CAO points.
CAO points
Each student's CAO points are calculated on their best six subjects.
Higher Level subjects gain more points than their Ordinary Level counterpart, with a H1 (90+ per cent in a Higher Level subject) worth 100 points, while an O1 (90+ per cent in a Ordinary Level subject) is worth 56 points.
Students who obtain a H6 (passing grade) or better in Higher Level Maths will also receive an additional 25 points on top of the points for the grade they achieve.
Students generally take seven or eight subjects for Leaving Cert, but their CAO points are calculated on their six highest-scoring results, regardless of the level they were achieved in.
A student who receives top grades in eight Higher Level subjects, including Maths, can therefore still only score 625 points.
A CAO points calculator can be found here.
CAO offers
As with previous years, students' results are automatically sent to the Central Applications Office (CAO) who are responsible for the allocation of third-level places.
The number of applicants per course in each of the country's higher level institutes determines the points entry requirement for that course.
If a large number of students selected a course as their first choice before the July deadline, the points for that course may increase due to demand.
Less popular courses therefore tend to have lower points requirements due to the reduced competition for the number of places on offer.
The CAO also takes into consideration whether students are a DARE (Disability Access Route to Education) or HEAR (Higher Education Access Route) applicant, meaning they could be offered a place on a course which they did not get the points for.
On September 11th, CAO Round One offers will be made to students. The CAO portal will open at 2pm that day, but may also be received by text or email.
The candidate will get a place on their highest preference course which they qualify for.
For example, if a student achieves 400 points and has selected Arts (History) in NUI Galway as their number one preference (which the CAO sets at 318 points), followed by Arts (Music) as their second choice (which the CAO sets at 400 points), the student will be offered a place in Arts (History) as it was their higher preference.
(For illustrative purposes only – these points requirements are based on 2019 data.)
Once they receive an offer, students may decide to accept it or if they didn't receive their top choice, they can choose to wait for the next round where they may receive an offer to a course higher up their list.
The closing date for accepting Round One CAO offers is September 16th, with Round Two opening on September 23rd before closing again on the 25th.
Students deciding to defer or turn down offers can lead to places becoming available in courses which are then offered in subsequent rounds.
Also, if you accept an offer from the CAO, but subsequently qualify for a place in a course that was higher up your list of preference, you will be offered a spot in that course, even if teaching has already begun. This may happen if a student appeals their grade in a subject and the grade increases.
All key CAO dates can be found here.
Sitting the exams
The option to sit the traditional Leaving Certificate exams is still an option for students, even if they opted-in to receiving calculated grades.
The written exams are due to start on November 16th and students who received calculated grades will be able to choose the better result in whatever subject they sit their exam in.
For example, if a student received a H3 in English from the calculated grades process and subsequently chose to sit the written exam, in which they obtain a H4, the student can decide to keep their calculated grade in that subject.
Issues with the system
As calculated grades have never been used before in Ireland, there has been concern about the impact they will have on past, present and future students.
This year's results were on average 4.4 per cent higher across all subjects compared to previous years.
While the initial concerns regarding current Leaving Cert students being disadvantaged because of an over-compensation of the standardisation algorithm, as was the case in the UK, the worry has now shifted to students from previous years.
Students who may have sat the Leaving Cert before this year, yet were applying to the CAO in 2020 may be at a disadvantage because their results, using the old system, are not exactly comparable to this year's calculated grades – this may see them miss out on college places.
When the Leaving Certificate reverts back to its normal form, results will likely move back to levels more in line with past years, meaning students applying to the CAO in later years who received calculated grades this year may be at an advantage.
However, this year, the inflated grades are likely to drive CAO points up, which may cancel out the inflation for this year at least.
Regardless of what results they achieve, students are being urged not to panic and if they are upset or concerned after receiving their grades or are unsure about what to do next, the can contact the National Parents Council Post-Primary to speak to a qualified guidance counsellor about their options.
