Will delay in Leaving Cert results affect my chance of going to college abroad?

Is there clarity over when this year’s Leaving Cert results will be published? I have applied for to study physiotherapy, but as a backup there is an offer of a place in the Netherlands if I can provide them with my Leaving Cert results by September 1st.

The State Examinations Commission (SEC) is not yet in a position to name a date for this year’s results due to a variety of reasons.

Included among the short-term issues are the need for a “glide path” reduction in grades which Minister for Education Norma Foley has indicated will be applied to the significantly higher Covid-era grades.

In addition, additional time is required to mark scripts from the second sitting of the Leaving Cert, which is offered in July to students who are ill or suffer a bereavement during the June exams.

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The increase in the number of subjects offered at Leaving Cert level has also resulted in the June exams being extended into a fourth week, putting pressure on the SEC to get those scripts corrected within the normal time-frame.

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However, the main reason why the SEC cannot nail down an exact date for the release of the Leaving Cert results relates to a decline in the number of teachers applying for this work. Over the past decade the numbers have dropped year-on-year.

It is my understanding that a review of the system has revealed that only a small percentage of teachers currently engage in the correction process, and as they retire or grow weary of the workload involved, they are not replaced by younger teachers.

Having undertaken this work myself as a young teacher in the 1980s, I can confirm that those who argue that teachers benefit from the marking process are correct

The long-term viability of the current model of the Leaving Cert, where a student’s teacher does not grade their own students’ work, depends on persuading far greater numbers of teachers to apply for this work.

Having undertaken this work myself as a young teacher in the 1980s, I can confirm that those who argue that teachers benefit from the marking process are correct: I got to better understand the granular detail of how it is assessed in the written papers. This invariably helps students and makes you a more effective teacher.

In a bid to boost examiner numbers, the SEC recently launched its “learn, earn, return” campaign (secexaminer.ie) which has information about the nature of the work and potential earnings. The SEC says those who do engage in marking the Leaving Cert can earn between €7,721 and €10,844 and at Junior Cycle level €4,858 and €5,010, before tax.

This may lead to more examiners enrolling, smaller numbers of scripts per head and help ensure the process of grading State exams is more sustainable all round.

Will you be able to take up a college place abroad? There is a very strong likelihood. Delays in recent years did not prevent the vast majority of Irish students taking up college courses in the UK, Netherlands and elsewhere.

Do you have a careers or education query? Email askbrian@irishtimes.com