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PRELIMINARY RESULTS of the report sought by Minister for Education Batt O’Keeffe into grade inflation in the Leaving Certificate examination and across higher education should become known tomorrow. But the thrust of the main findings is already in the public domain: there is incontrovertible evidence of serious grade inflation within the education system.

The rate of the award of first class honours degrees in a majority of universities has increased by more than 100 per cent since 1994. In the Institutes of Technology there was a 52 per cent increase over the same period. All of this took place against a background of tumbling CAO points for most courses; in many cases much weaker students have been receiving much better grades. A similar pattern is evident at second level where the percentage gaining 500-plus points is up by 124 per cent since 1995.