Fees for State exams to be waived this year

Minister for Education confirms move for Leaving Cert and Junior Cert students

Fees for the 2022 Leaving Certificate and junior cycle examinations will be waived, Minister for Education Norma Foley has confirmed. File photograph: Nick Bradshaw/The Irish Times

Fees for the 2022 Leaving Certificate and junior cycle examinations will be waived, Minister for Education Norma Foley has confirmed.

Students will no longer have to pay fees for their State examinations this year, which would usually be €116 and €109 for the Leaving Cert and junior cycle exams respectively.

The announcement follows confirmation this week that Leaving Cert exams will go ahead this June in their traditional format, as well as on the return of the Junior Cert, following two years of pandemic disruption to both sets of exams.

The decision to proceed with the traditional Leaving Cert format was criticised by students who had called for a hybrid option this year.

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However, students will be given more options on their papers to account for Covid-related disruption during their senior cycle.

“We have sought to bring clarity and certainty for students this week by confirming the arrangements for the 2022 examinations and I am pleased to confirm today that fees for this year’s State examinations are being waived,” Ms Foley said on Thursday.

Exam fees were also waived last year to ease the financial burden on students and their families during the pandemic.

The timetable for the exams will be published online in the coming days.