Just over half of this year’s Leaving Cert students’ grades have been artificially inflated, compared with more than two-thirds last year, marking the first stage of a gradual phasing out of grade inflation introduced during the pandemic.
The 65,444 students set to receive their results at 10am today are the first to see their grades inflated at a lower level after former minister for education Norma Foley last year directed a “modest, gradual reduction” in the level of post-marking adjustment.
Marks were added to all results this year, resulting in 52.4 per cent of grades increasing, a significant drop from the 68 per cent of grades affected last year.
The adjustments were made by the State Examinations Commission (SEC) after exam papers were marked in the normal way. On average, marks were increased by 6.8 per cent, down from 7.5 per cent last year.
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Like previous years, pre-adjusted results were lower across the board when compared with pre-pandemic norms, and this was more pronounced at lower levels of achievement.
Marks were subject to a linear adjustment, meaning more were added to lower results and gradually declined as they were awarded to higher results.
The marks added ranged from 3.1 at the higher end of the scale to 10.3 at the lower.
Grades remain far higher than in pre-pandemic years, with 11.7 per cent of higher-level grades awarded being H1s, the highest grade available.
This is down from 14.3 per cent last year but compares with between 5 and 6 per cent pre-pandemic.
Meanwhile, the percentage of O1s (the highest grade awarded to those sitting ordinary-level papers) fell from 5.8 per cent in 2024 to 3.7 per cent. This compares with 1.5 per cent in 2019.
The continued high grades will probably see third-level institutions use random selection to choose between top candidates in high-demand courses when Central Applications Office (CAO) offers are issued on Wednesday.
Last year saw some candidates who received maximum points miss out on highly sought-after courses due to the use of such lottery systems, with senior higher education figures such as Trinity College Dublin’s vice-provost, Orla Sheils, describing the process as “cruel”.
Those receiving results today will be competing with almost 20,000 former Leaving Cert students who sat their exams in previous years. The vast majority of the 19,782 former students applying through the CAO this year completed exams since 2020 and received higher levels of grade inflation.
Post-marking adjustments have been made yearly since grades soared during the Covid-19 pandemic due to the use of teacher-predicted grades and subsequent adjustments to exams to compensate for disruptions.
The post-marking adjustments in 2025 resulted in a “modest reduction” in the aggregate Leaving Cert results, the SEC said, and are now at a point between 2020 and 2021 levels, and 5.9 percentage points above 2019 levels on average.
The number of candidates this year neared the record of 66,304 candidates from 1995. However, about 7,000 or so of those 1995 candidates were repeating exams, compared with about 800 this year, meaning 2025 saw a record number of first-time candidates.
Minister for Education Helen McEntee said results day marks a “significant milestone in the lives of 65,444 students across Ireland”.
“It is the culmination of years of hard work, dedication and commitment from you. I’d like to congratulate every one of you on your achievements,” she said.
