Over 1,000 Laois students will receive their 2020 Leaving Cert results this morning under the new calculated grades process introduced after the exams were unable to go ahead in June due to the Coronavirus-related restrictions.
Students will find out what grades this got online from 9am this morning – but there has been a dramatic increase in the number of top grades awarded under the new system.
Calculated grades combine teachers’ estimated marks with a standardisation process overseen by the Department of Education.
A breakdown of the results today shows teachers overestimated their students’ marks at all points in the achievement spectrum.
It was most pronounced at higher level, where top estimated grades were sometimes two, three or even four times higher than normal patterns.
While the standardisation process resulted in grades being adjusted downwards, it still resulted in average grades across all subjects and levels increasing by 4.4% on last year.
In art, for example, the proportion of students who secured a H1 climbed from 3 per cent last year to 8.5 per cent this year – a 166 per cent increase in the proportion who secured a top grade this year.
There were also big jumps in the proportion of students who secured H1s in applied maths (79 per cent), geography (54 per cent), Irish (49 per cent), English (43 per cent), biology (32 per cent) and maths (31 per cent).
In a statement, Minister for Education Norma Foley said the past few months had been a challenging time for students, their families and school communities.
“However, I do believe what has been created is the fairest possible solution given the extraordinary circumstances in which we find ourselves as we journey together through the Covid-19 pandemic,” she said.
“Today, with confidence, you can look back with pride on all that you have achieved and look forward with courage to the next exciting phase of your lives.”
According to the Irish Times, CAO sources said last night the extent of grade inflation posed “huge problems” for deferred students given that points requirements are set to increase across many courses.
While these record grades will benefit the class of 2020, grade inflation will devalue the results of 10,000-20,000 college applicants whose results were based on exams they sat in previous years.
The first round of the CAO offers are out on Friday when students can look forward to third level experience like none before with a mixture of remote learning and attendance at college.
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