OVER 48,075 LEAVING Cert students have registered for the Calculated Grades system as of 1pm today.

There are around 61,000 students who were due to sit the Leaving Certificate this year. 

The Calculated Grades system will involve teachers assessing what grade they think a student would have received if they had sat the Leaving Cert exam, based on classwork done (eg, Mock exams, essays, projects or Christmas/summer exams).

The teacher will then confer with other teachers who teach the same subject, and then those grades are passed onto the principal. The principal must sign off on the grades, and possibly question why certain grades were given, and once it is finalised it will then be passed onto the Department of Education.

The Department of Education will then compare the Calculated Grades against a number of metrics to ensure they are in line with previous Leaving Cert years. They will be compared with: last year’s Leaving Cert results and this year’s sixth year’s Junior Cert results.

If students are unhappy with their Calculated Grade, they will be given the option of sitting the written exams as a form of appeal.

If a student doesn’t want to opt for the Calculated Grade system at all, they can sit the exams directly.

The written exams are expected to be held later this year; the timing partly relies on how many opt for the Calculated Grade system, and how many will want to appeal.

All Leaving Certificate and Leaving Certificate Applied students can register now on gov.ie/leavingcertificate between 10am this morning and 10pm Thursday 28 May.

All students following the Leaving Certificate Established or Leaving Certificate Vocational Programmes must choose whether they are being assessed based on the Higher Level or Ordinary Level exam papers in each of their subjects. 

When registering on gov.ie/leavingcertificate, students must have the following information to hand:

• Their Examination Number
• Their Personal Public Service Number (PPSN), which they will use to create a four-digit Personal Identification Number
• An email address
• A mobile phone number. 

Once the Department has received all the necessary data from schools, students will be asked to opt in through the portal to indicate if they wish to receive Calculated Grades. 

Schools have been asked to assist their students as much as possible but if anyone has trouble getting access online, there will be helpline support from midday today:

• Information on accessing the portal can be found here. Anyone who needs further support can contact the helpdesk at 1800 111 135 or 1800 111 136.
• Due to Covid-19 restrictions the helpdesk phone lines will only be available between 12pm and 5pm today, and 9am and 5pm tomorrow and Thursday. 
• Outside of these hours, people can email lcsupport2020@education.gov.ie for assistance.
• A guide to Calculated Grades and further information on this process is available here.