The Junior Certificate Appeals Process

If you feel that your Junior Certification results warrant an appeal the process is outlined below and available at examinations.ie. Note that Junior Cert candidates cannot review their scripts in the same way Leaving Certificate candidates can. According to the Examinations Commission site, the appeal process is as follows:

How to appeal:

In order to appeal a result in any of the subjects in the Junior Certificate you must apply to do so through the school - View Circular Letter S65/24.’ Your school can then apply to the State Examinations Commission on your behalf. All applications from schools must be sent to the State Examinations Commission accompanied by the appropriate payment. All applications from the school should reach the Commission by 5pm Tuesday 15 October 2024 and therefore must be submitted to the school a few days earlier - check your school's closing date. Late applications received will not be considered. The Commission will not accept applications directly from individual candidates, parents or teachers.’

What is the appeal fee?

The appeal fee is €32 per subject appealed.

What happens during the appeal process?

Your script is sent to an appeal examiner for re-marking. This examiner is different from the examiner who originally marked your work. The appeal examiner completes a full remarking of your exam using the official marking scheme. In some subjects involving practical/project work it may be necessary for an appeal examiner to visit the school to re-mark work stored by the school.

Is it possible that I could receive a lower Junior Certificate examination result on appeal?

No. Junior Certificate examination results are not reduced on appeal even if the appeal examiner finds that the marks awarded originally were too high. The practice recognises that the appeals process exists to ensure that the marking scheme was fully and properly applied to the work produced at the examination and that Junior Certificate candidates do not have the opportunity to see the application of the marking scheme to their work.

Access to Examination Scripts

Under Data Protection legislation, candidates may obtain information including a copy of their examination script(s) from the SEC by making a data access request. Candidates can make a Subject Access Request using the form available from the Data Protection section of the SEC’s website www.examinations.ie. Under the legislation, the SEC, as a data controller, is required to respond to a data access request within 30 days of receipt of the request. However, the law also allows for this time period to be extended to 90 days depending on the number and complexity of the requests received.

The SEC processes one million written examinations scripts and another 1 million related examination components (practical and project work; oral tests; performances, etc.) every year. The SEC will endeavour to provide the requested information within 30 days and will notify applicants should it become necessary to extend the time limit to 90 days. It should be noted that there is no connection between this process and the appeals process referred to above. Late appeals will not be accepted.