The Department of Education is to investigate wide variations in the grades awarded for certain Leaving Cert subjects, following two reports highlighting significant differences.
The move comes as more than 120,000 students begin their Junior and Leaving Cert exams this morning at 4,500 centres. The major change to this year's exams is an extra 20 minutes allowed for some subjects.
The Department is to review the pattern of grades awarded following concern about wide variations expressed in the Commission on the Points System report issued several months ago.
This said students were choosing their subjects based on a perception that they were likely to be marked "more easily" than other subjects.
The Government-sponsored Points Commission report was the first major examination of the points system in several decades, and its membership included several leading academics and educationalists.
Another study - by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment - found in some cases there was more than double the chance of getting an A1 in one subject over another.
The Department will look at the discrepancies and consider what changes, if any, are needed.
The NCCA report released in April found the chances of getting an A1 in higher-level accounting was double that of higher level Irish in one year examined. It pointed out that in 1996, 2.8 per cent of candidates in higher level engineering received an A grade, but this rose to 11.2 per cent in last year's exam.
It said it was unlikely this occurred because students in one year were more gifted than in others. It said a more likely reason was a change in the paper or the marking system.
This report was recently forwarded to the Department of Education and senior officials are planning to begin researching the pattern of grades awarded in recent years. It is part of an overall implementation of the Points Commission report.
A spokeswoman for the Department said yesterday it had set up a Departmental group to implement the various pieces of the report. However, the Department has discretion on which parts it implements.
Teacher unions and other education bodies have pointed out that students perceive physics and chemistry as subjects where the chances of gaining a high grade in a higher level paper are slim. Many believe this is one reason for the decline in the takeup of these subjects.
Another trend noticed in the NCCA report was that in lower level papers there tended to be a tendency to give many students a D in a lower paper, rather than fail them. This year the decline in the number of Leaving Cert candidates continues with more than 2,000 fewer entries.
Because of the buoyant jobs market there are fewer repeat and mature students taking the exam. This should mean an overall reduction in the so-called points race for third level entry, according to sources. However, courses with a heavy demand and minimal places such as medicine, dentistry and pharmacy are likely to remain high for the foreseeable future.
Last night the Minister for Education, Dr Woods, wished students good luck and announced that for the first time they would be able to get their results over the phone from the Department in August.
The results will be sent to schools as normal, but the phone line is designed to allow students not wishing to go to their school to get their results. Calls to a special Department of Education number will be charged at 26p a minute.