The Education Minister has said a further 6,500 Leaving Cert students may have been given higher grades than they should have got.
That’s on top of the expected 6,500 students who were unfairly downgraded by a mistake in the predictive grades system.
It would mean around one in five Leaving Cert students got a false grade in this year’s exams.
Education Minister Norma Foley admitted said she was still working off estimates when being questioned by TD Mick Barry in the Dáil last night.
Meanwhile, students who get an upgraded offer are being advised to consider their options very carefully.
Gemma Lawlor from Tyndall College in Carlow says “So students who have already accepted a course and moved away or moved onto that course & have started on this path, they should really think about it very carefully & make the best decision they can with the help of their guidance counsellors, guidance counsellors are absolutely available to their students to go back & talk through the options, go back & talk through the scenarios”.
She adds “The Department of Education has said that nobody will be financially disadvantaged if they decide to continue on their course for this year, see how they get on and if they do want to start on a preferred course or higher course or higher preferance course next year they will allow that from a maintenance point of view, but also from a fees point of view so it’s easing it a bit, it is a lot”.
