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Leaving Certificate: ‘Substantial increase’ in number of appeals lodged by students
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There was a “substantial increase” in the number of appeals lodged by Leaving Certificate candidates this year, according to the State Examinations Commission (SEC).
This year’s students were the first to experience a lowering of grade inflation as part of a gradual phasing-out of the measure introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Some 10,048 candidates, or 16 per cent of those who sat exams, appealed against one or more of their results. This was up on the 7,268 students who appealed last year, some 13 per cent of the total number of candidates.
Appeal applications were made against 20,764 individual results, a “substantial” increase of some 45 per cent compared to last year when there were 14,287 individual subject appeals, the SEC said.
The increase in appeals comes in tandem with a larger cohort of students sitting the exams this year, with the number of candidates rising by about 4,600 across the Leaving Certificate and Leaving Certificate Applied (LCA), although fewer than 10 LCA students appealed their results.
While post-marking adjustments were not open to appeal, when an overall mark changes as a result of review, the adjustment is calculated again based on the new total.
Overall, 19 per cent (3,935) of the Leaving Cert results appealed this year were upgraded after review and recalculation of post-marking adjustments, the SEC said. This compared to 22 per cent last year and 23 per cent in 2023.
The final number of upgrades was equivalent to less than 1 per cent of all Leaving Cert results issued.
Students requested to view more than 142,000 scripts after results were issued last month, a 16 per cent rise from the 122,000 scripts viewed last year.
Those who subsequently appealed their results had their work fully reviewed, question by question, by a different examiner.
The SEC said it uses the appeals process as a “further quality assurance check” on its processes.
Quality assurance checks this year resulted in 42 candidates, who had not appealed their result, receiving an upgrade.
All appeal results have been transmitted directly to the Central Admissions Office (CAO) and will be made available to students from 11am on Friday.
“The issue date of the appeal results ensures that the Leaving Certificate appeals integrate with the process for entry to higher education through the Central Applications Office,” the SEC said.
The CAO will be issuing its fifth round of offers on Tuesday.
Candidates who appealed their results may view their re-marked scripts online. The deadline to apply to do this is 5pm on Monday.
Separately, the SEC confirmed that this year’s Junior Certificate results will be issued on October 8th.
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A suspected drone sighting briefly shuttered a Danish airport this morning for the second time in a few hours, after the country’s prime minister said the flights were part of “hybrid attacks” that may be linked to Russia.
Drones have been seen flying over several Danish airports since Wednesday, causing one of them to close for hours, after a sighting earlier this week prompted Copenhagen airport to shut down.
That followed a similar incident in Norway, drone incursions in Polish and Romanian territory and the violation of Estonian airspace by Russian fighter jets, which raised tensions in light of Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
“Over recent days, Denmark has been the victim of hybrid attacks,” Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said yesterday in a video message on social media – referring to a form of unconventional warfare.
She warned that such drone flights “could multiply”.
Investigators said they had so far failed to identify those responsible, but Ms Frederiksen stressed: “There is one main country that poses a threat to Europe’s security, and it is Russia.”
Moscow said yesterday that it “firmly rejects” any suggestion that it was involved in the Danish incidents. Its embassy in Copenhagen called them “a staged provocation”, in a post on social media.
Denmark’s Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard earlier said the aim of the attack was “to spread fear, create division and frighten us”.
He added that Copenhagen would acquire new enhanced capabilities to “detect” and “neutralise drones”.
Denmark will later today join other EU countries, mostly along the eastern border with Russia, in the first talks on proposals to build a “wall” of anti-drone defences in the face of the tensions with Moscow.
Drones have been seen flying over several Danish airports since Wednesday, causing one of them to close for hours, after a sighting earlier this week prompted Copenhagen airport to shut down.
That followed a similar incident in Norway, drone incursions in Polish and Romanian territory and the violation of Estonian airspace by Russian fighter jets, which raised tensions in light of Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
“Over recent days, Denmark has been the victim of hybrid attacks,” Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said yesterday in a video message on social media – referring to a form of unconventional warfare.
She warned that such drone flights “could multiply”.
Investigators said they had so far failed to identify those responsible, but Ms Frederiksen stressed: “There is one main country that poses a threat to Europe’s security, and it is Russia.”
Moscow said yesterday that it “firmly rejects” any suggestion that it was involved in the Danish incidents. Its embassy in Copenhagen called them “a staged provocation”, in a post on social media.
Denmark’s Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard earlier said the aim of the attack was “to spread fear, create division and frighten us”.
He added that Copenhagen would acquire new enhanced capabilities to “detect” and “neutralise drones”.
Denmark will later today join other EU countries, mostly along the eastern border with Russia, in the first talks on proposals to build a “wall” of anti-drone defences in the face of the tensions with Moscow.
Russia sabotage warning
Drones were spotted on Wednesday and early yesterday morning at airports in Aalborg, Esbjerg, Sonderborg and at the Skrydstrup air base before leaving on their own, police said.
Aalborg airport, located in northern Denmark, was initially shut down for several hours, and closed again for about an hour from late last night into early this morning due to another suspected sighting.
“It was not possible to take down the drones, which flew over a very large area over a couple of hours,” North Jutland chief police inspector Jesper Bojgaard Madsen said about the initial Aalborg incident.
The head of Denmark’s military intelligence, Thomas Ahrenkiel, told a news conference the service had not been able to identify who was behind the drones.
But intelligence chief Finn Borch said: “The risk of Russian sabotage in Denmark is high.”
Danish Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen told a news conference the flights appeared to be “the work of a professional actor… such a systematic operation in so many locations at virtually the same time”.
He said it had posed “no direct military threat” to Denmark.
Ms Frederiksen said Thursday that she had spoken with NATO chief Mark Rutte about the incidents.
Lund Poulsen said the government had yet to decide whether to invoke NATO’s Article 4, under which any member state can call urgent talks when it feels its “territorial integrity, political independence or security” are at risk.
French President Emmanuel Macron said his country stood ready “to contribute to the security of Danish airspace”.
Copenhagen is set to host a summit of European Union leaders next week.
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Anna LewisBBC Wales
Handheld scanners will be used to search children suspected of having a weapon in Cardiff schools under new guidance.
The guidelines, which are thought to be the first of their kind in Wales, deal with what happens when a child is thought to be carrying a weapon, and the next steps if one is found.
Cardiff council said it had been designed after calls by head teachers for up-to-date advice to keep students and staff safe, following growing concerns about knife crime in schools.
Sarah Merry, the council’s cabinet member for education, said while she understood parents “may feel anxious about the idea of searches”, they would not be part of a daily school routine or “done lightly”.
In 2013, the Welsh government introduced a power which allowed schools in Wales to screen pupils for a knife or other weapons, and to search pupils suspected of carrying a weapon.
New guidance sent to parents in Cardiff states a search may be necessary if staff have a “reasonable” suspicion that a young person has a weapon in school.
During a search, it added two members of staff would be present, and that in most cases a “search wand” would be used to remove any physical contact.
“Parents or carers will be informed following a search and the reasons for the search will be explained,” the guidance adds, with the purpose of the search also explained to the student.
Under the guidelines, if a weapon is found then an incident review meeting should be arranged within five school days of the incident with “at least one daily welfare check”.
The young person should not be allowed to go to school until this meeting has taken place, while a “trauma-informed investigation” would then take place to understand why the young people brought the weapon into school and the next steps that should be taken.
According to Cardiff council, the guidelines recognise “there are often complex reasons why a young person might carry a weapon” and encourages schools to work with families and other services so support can be put in place.
The guidelines have been rolled out to all primary, secondary and special schools after being developed through consultation with children, and co-produced with partners including South Wales Police, youth services and violence prevention experts.
Merry, who is also council deputy leader, said: “Head teachers have been asking for revised support in this area and it’s absolutely right that we’ve worked closely with them to create something practical and useful.
“It is also part of our review following incidents in other parts of the country and gives schools the tools they need to keep everyone safe – it’s not about creating fear; it’s about building confidence.”
As well as guidance on weapons, each school in Cardiff has appointed a violence prevention lead, who are senior staff members that will take part in specialist training to prepare them for real-life situations involving weapons or threats to safety.
Other actions taken to keep schools safe include lockdown rehearsals to help schools prepare for emergencies, and using the curriculum to “build a culture of respect and safety”.
This post was originally published on this site.
Tánaiste Simon Harris has met with US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick in Washington DC.
The meeting at the Department of Commerce was an opportunity to discuss the dynamic economic, trade and investment relationship between Ireland and the US.
It was also a chance to take stock on the implementation of the EU-US Framework on an Agreement on Reciprocal, Fair and Balanced Trade agreed in July.
They discussed the potential of expanding the list of goods that are exempt from the baseline 15% tariff rate.
Ireland has a particular interest in this as it relates to the spirits and med-tech sectors. They also discussed the issue of non-tariff barriers as well as the ongoing Section 232 investigations on pharmaceuticals and semiconductors.
They exchanged views on the impact of the expansion of the Section 232 measures on certain steel and aluminium given the impact of these on a number of Irish manufacturers, particularly in the agri-tech sector.
Mr Harris raised the recent proposal by the US to raise the cost of H1B visas applications, and noted the importance of pathways for high-skilled workers, innovators and job creators to live and work in the US.
More broadly the meeting was an opportunity to discuss the mutually beneficial economic relationship between Ireland and the US, and how it can be protected and deepened in the time ahead.
The Tánaiste took the opportunity to update Mr Lutnick on the economic impact report: Ireland and the USA: a shared economic story – which he launched.
The report shows the impact of Irish companies investing across all 50 states.
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Read more on post. A suspected drone sighting briefly shuttered a Danish airport this morning for the second time in a few hours, after the country’s prime minister said the flights were part of “hybrid attacks” that may be linked to Russia. Drones have been seen flying over several Danish airports since Wednesday, causing one… Read more: Danish airport closes again after reported drone sighting - School scanners for pupils thought to have weapons
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