Minister for Education Norma Foley TD today announced that Calculated Grades results will issue directly to students through the student portal on 7 September at 9.00am. Results will also issue simultaneously to students’ schools.

Schools will be asked to provide support to students in an appropriate way on the day, through enabling students to come to the school if they wish at a scheduled time, or to making guidance or other teaching staff members available by phone for students to discuss their options following their results.

“It is important that we recognise the unique set of circumstances for these students, and that we all ensure they get the support that they need,” said Minister Foley.

“I am confident that schools will, through their support teams, ensure that the students they have supported and nurtured throughout their post-primary education will be supported on this important day and the following days.”

Students will also be required to respect social distancing and to behave in a responsible way, in line with public health advice. Schools will have the flexibility to ask some classes of current students not to attend school on that day to ensure adequate social distancing in schools.

The Leaving Certificate student helpline which is provided by the National Parents Council post-primary will be available from 7 September for students to reach a guidance counsellor with any queries that they may have.

The issuing of the results was one of the matters discussed at a meeting today hosted by the Department of Education with a range of stakeholders, as part of planning in relation to the State Examinations during the Covid-19 response.

The Minister for Education Norma Foley TD attended today’s meeting and thanked all stakeholders for their contribution and work to date on devising the Calculated Grades system.

“Creating an entirely new system of Calculated Grades has been a huge and challenging task. The contribution of the stakeholders and their involved input at every stage has been key in getting to this point.

“I am pleased that we have been able to bring clarity for students on how and when the results will be issued and how they will be supported.

“I know what a stressful time this is for students. The wellbeing of the students and the integrity and fairness of the system are the most important things to me, and I will continue to work with the stakeholders to ensure that we get the best possible and fairest results for our students.

“I urge students to ensure that they opt-in on the Calculated Grades Student Portal this week for their Calculated Grades, before the deadline of 4pm next Monday 27 July. All the details you need are on gov.ie/LeavingCertificate.”

The advisory group of stakeholders includes representatives of students, parents, teachers, school leadership and management bodies, the State Examinations Commission, the National Educational Psychological Service, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment and the Department.

Representatives from the Higher Education Authority and the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science attended the meeting to ensure liaison with the third level sector.

The group also received updates on the progress of the Calculated Grades opt-in by students, which is progressing well, with over 52 per cent of Leaving Certificate students and 28 per cent of Leaving Certificate Applied students having opted-in to date.

The Group also discussed the updated plans to tenure the smooth running of the CAO offer and acceptance process, to enable students to gain entry to higher education.

CAO offers will be made on 11 September, for acceptance on 16 September, with second round offers to be made on 23 September for acceptance by 25 September.

Students wising to appeal a Calculated Grade can do from 14 September.

The Group also received a briefing from the State Examinations Commission on the plans it is developing to run the Leaving Certificate examinations in November 2020.

The Minister will meet opposition spokesperson on Education this afternoon and will brief them on the above matters.

Source: education.ie

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