Limerick students impacted by Leaving Cert 'code errors' will not have grades reduced
The number of Limerick students affected by the discovery of two errors in the Leaving Certificate 2020 Calculated Grades process will not be known for a number of days.
However, based on the numbers who received results earlier this month, it's likely that more than 200 students from Limerick received incorrect grades.
The Department of Education and Skills has confirmed that two errors were discovered in lines of code in an algorithm which was used to calculate the grades as part of the standardisation process.
At a media briefing this Wednesday evening, Minister Norma Foley said the errors resulted in students' weakest non-core Junior Cert results being used rather that the two best results.
The results of CSPE exams were also included when they should have been excluded.
More than 50,000 lines of code have been examined and the errors are being rectified and the process is being re-checked with a series of independent checks now underway.
Minister Foley says no student will receive a reduced grade in any subject as a result of this process.
However, around 6,500 students across the country who should have received a higher grade will be issued with new results to reflect this.
The initial indication is that the majority of the students who will be receiving an improved grade will receive an upgrade in one subject only, with a smaller number of students receiving an upgrade in more than one subject.
The Department of Education and Skills will contact students who will be receiving the improved grades as soon as all the checks are completed.
When the revised grades are issued the CAO and the Higher Education Institutions will establish which students receiving corrected results would have been eligible for a higher preference offer in previous rounds of the CAO process.
The Department of Education and Skills has put in place a dedicated helpline and email address to answer queries from students. The helpline number is 01 8892199 and the email address is [email protected] .
Apologising to students, Minister Foley said: "My immediate priority is to fix the errors and their consequences so that students get their correct grades. That is happening right now and the next steps will follow quickly."
The Department will then contact all students, advising whether they will receive a higher grade or grades, or that they are not impacted.
Any student who would have been entitled to a different offer in previous CAO rounds if they received the correct grade on September 7 will receive this offer or a deferred offer as soon as practicable after the updating of results.
When the results are published on the portal detailed information on this process will be available for students on gov.ie/LeavingCertificate.