School-leavers receive boosted results for a third year

Tens of thousands of students in the Republic of Ireland have received their Leaving Certificate results. The qualification is similar to A Levels in the United Kingdom. But unlike in the UK, measures for minimising COVID-19 disruption to students have continued this year and marks were artificially boosted by nearly 8%, reports the BBC News.

That’s due to a commitment made by the education minister that grades would be no lower than last year’s results to “ensure fairness and equity for students” that were faced with disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The same commitment was made last year, but grades then were only hiked by 5.6%. This year’s marks have been awarded a significantly higher hike, at an average of 7.9%. For pupils leaving school in Ireland this year, these were the first state exams they had ever sat. They did not sit Junior Certificate exams (roughly equivalent to GCSEs) because of the pandemic. Seventy-one percent of all grades awarded this year have risen as a result of the hike, compared to 50% last year.
Full report on the BBC site