Union praises LC students who ‘had to cope with significant uncertainty’

The president of one of Ireland’s largest teaching unions has congratulated this year’s Leaving Cert students as they receive their results today.

The wait is finally over for this year’s class as their results are due to be released from 10am.

The President of the ASTI, Eamon Dennehy, said that the past 18 months have been extremely tough for this cohort of students, and they should be proud of themselves.

“You have had to cope with significant disruption and uncertainty,” he said. “Today marks your entry to the next stage of your lives, with all of its opportunities. Your teachers are very proud of you today.”

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He also urged young people to look out for each other if they decided to go out to celebrate tonight.

Mr Dennehy also welcomed Minister for Education Norma Foley’s recent statement, where she said that next year’s Leaving Cert should go ahead as normal.

“External assessment administered by the State Exams Commission ensures that the Leaving and Junior Cert exams processes remains transparent, objective and fair,” said Mr Dennehy.

Leaving Cert students can access their results from the online Candidate Self Service Portal from 10am on Friday, as opposed to coming into school to receive their grades in paper format, as was the case pre-pandemic.

Remain positive

The Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) has also congratulated the class of 2021.

“We congratulate all students on receiving their results today and recognise that the last eighteen months have been extremely difficult for them,” said TUI President Martin Marjoram.

Students who did not get the results they wanted should try to remain positive, and Mr Marjoram reminded them that there are further education paths available to them, should they not receive the CAO offer they envisioned.

“Students should also consider the wide breadth of choices in Further Education and Post Leaving Certificate (PLC) colleges around the country. “

Mr Marjoram added that the unions’ co-operation with the new assessment procedures was only because of the pandemic, and the union’s stance is that senior cycle assessment must be state-certified.

“TUI has engaged positively with a review of Senior Cycle and will continue to do so. At all times, our overall position is clear and unambiguous - state certification is key to all developments and must be retained,” said Mr Marjoram.

“TUI members are fundamentally opposed to assessing their own students for state certificate purposes and therefore external assessment and state certification - which retain significant public trust - are essential.”

Rights-of-passage

Meanwhile, the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals (NAPD) has also extended congratulations to the students.

“In addition to adapting to the demands of remote learning, our senior cycle students have had to forgo many of the traditional rights-of-passage that make our school years so memorable,” said said Director of the NAPD, Paul Crone.

“Therefore, on behalf of Irish principals, deputy principals, and the NAPD, I would like to congratulate all those students receiving their Leaving Certificate results today.”

Mr Crone added that the NAPD would like to build on this year’s hybrid grading system, where accredited grades and written exams were offered.

“The assessment process offered students the best of both worlds, and this is something we hope to build on going forward, as we turn our attention to senior cycle reform.”

He also encouraged students to remain safe during any celebrations they were attending.

Grades rose across the board this year, reaching an all-time high. Some 61,000 people are due to receive their results today.

This year’s results are 2.6 per cent higher than 2020’s record-breaking results, where students were just given the option of predicted grades.

This year, students were given the option of sitting written exams or receiving a calculated grade from their teacher. The student will be given the highest result out of these two options.

The predicted grades also went through a standardisation process, overseen by the State Examinations Commission.

Overall, 2021’s results were 4.4 per cent higher than the 2019 exams, which was the last set of exams before the pandemic.

The number of students receiving higher grades was most pronounced in the higher-level subjects.

In higher-level maths, 15.1 per cent of students secured a top H1 grade this year, compared to just 8.6 per cent last year.

Teachers’ estimated grades also increased across the board.

The first round of CAO offers will be released on Tuesday 7th September.

Concerns have been raised that this year’s high grades could lead to a rise in the number of points required for college courses, meaning some students could miss out on a place in their preferred course.

This will also impact on anyone who is using Leaving Cert points from another year to apply to the CAO this year.

The Irish Times results helpdesk will operate from 12 midday on Friday to answer readers' queries on results and college or further education applications.