A decision to run a hybrid Leaving Cert this year could require the use of controversial “school profiling” to ensure there is consistency in teachers’ estimated marks, the Government has been told.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin and other party leaders were informed by senior officials that an accredited grades model – based on teachers’ estimates – may need to draw on schools’ historical results in theThis is due to the absence of Junior Cert exam data for about 25 per cent of this year’s Leaving Cert candidates who never sat the exam in 2020 when it was cancelled due to Covid-19 concerns.
This data is regarded as crucial in the standardisation process, which aims to ensure teachers’ estimated grades in different schools are equitably awarded. The Government had planned to use schools’ historical performance in 2020 when Leaving Cert exams were replaced by a system based on teachers’ estimates. However, it dropped the plan following opposition claims that it could penalise students attending school in disadvantaged areas.