The State Examinations Commission issued the results of the Leaving Certificate and Leaving Certificate Applied to candidates on Friday, 25 August 2023.
The State Examinations Commission Candidate Portal helpline will be available at 1800 111 135 or 1800 111 136 from 9 am to 5 pm from Friday 25 August to Monday 4 September. It is available for queries relating to the Candidate Self Service Portal and the services provided through the portal. Outside of these hours queries may be emailed to candidateportal@examinations.ie
The National Parents and Students Leaving Cert Helpline 1800 265 165 will operate from Friday 25 August until Saturday 2 September, at 10 am to 6 pm each day, except for Sunday 27 August when it will be open from 10 am to 2 pm and Saturday 2 September when it will be open from 10 am to 4 pm.
The Helpline is a free-phone service provided to Leaving Certificate students and their parents and guardians. The Helpline is staffed by qualified and experienced guidance counsellors who will deliver one-to-one support to parents and students. The guidance counsellors involved in the helpline are members of the Institute of Guidance Counsellors (IGC).
The National Parents and Students Leaving Cert Helpline is supported by the National Parents’ Council, sponsored by the Department of Education and the Irish Independent/Independent.ie and supported by Eir and the ISSU (Irish Second Level Students’ Union).
The helpline can be contacted on 1800 265 165.
A range of wellbeing resources developed by the National Educational Psychological Service is also available at Wellbeing support for Leaving Certificate students, parents and school staff
HSE/HSE-funded service providers will be available to support students through the provision of mental health services. Click the following link for more information: https://www2.hse.ie/services/mental-health-supports-and-services/mental-health-supports-and-services.html
NEPS psychologists are available to support teachers and guidance counsellors in schools as they support the 2023 Leaving Certificate students as the results issue and students consider their future options.
Applications to appeal must be made through the Candidate Self Service Portal between 10 am Sunday 3 September 2023 and 5 pm Monday 4 September 2023.
An appeal fee will apply at a rate of €40 per Leaving Certificate subject and €15.50 per Leaving Certificate Applied subject. A valid application will comprise both the application to appeal and the payment of the appeal fee. The fee is refunded in the event of a successful appeal.
If a candidate is unhappy with the outcome of the appeals process they may opt for one, both or neither of these processes;
a) Viewing of Remarked Examination Scripts.
b) Access to Independent Appeals Scrutineers – Examination Appeals
Further details regarding viewing appealed scripts and the IAS process will be available through the Candidate Self Service Portal at the time the Appeal Results issue.
If a candidate considers that their case has not been processed correctly, in the appeals process and the review by the Scrutineers, a complaint can be made to the Ombudsman or, if the candidate is under 18 years of age, the Ombudsman for Children.
Students sitting the Leaving Certificate 2023 have expressed concerns about ‘grade inflation’, and that students would be at a disadvantage if they were competing with the previous year’s cohort for places in higher education.
In line with the Minister’s commitment that there would be no “cliff-edge” for this year’s students in relation to grades, the SEC has applied a post-marking adjustment to the results of this year’s exams. This has ensured that grades in the aggregate are in line with last year’s. This means that the class of 2023 will not be disadvantaged compared to the class of 2020, 2021 or 2022.
Entry to higher education in Ireland is through application process run by the Central Applications Office. Information on how the points for entry for higher education courses are calculated can be found on www.cao.ie .
The Minister for Education wrote to all EU Ministers for Education and advised them of the date for issue of the Leaving Certificate results and the Minister also requested EU consideration for Irish students who may not have their Leaving Certificate results in time to complete the processing of their admissions in particular countries.
It is important that applicants advise the Admissions Office of relevant higher education institution to which they are applying of the results date of 25 August 2023.
You can send any queries to the following email address: LCinfo@education.gov.ie
On 2 September 2022, Minister for Education Norma Foley announced that adjustments were to be made to the assessment arrangements for students due to sit State examinations in 2023, to take account of the disruption to their learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.Read the full press release
A document detailing the adjusted assessment arrangements for the Leaving Certificate Established, Leaving Certificate Applied, Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme and Junior Cycle programmes was issued to schools and can also be found here. Schools were asked to ensure that all students were made aware of these changes.
The level of adjustment was the same as that announced in August 2021 but updated as relevant. These adjustments played to student strengths by leaving intact the familiar overall structure of the examinations, while incorporating additional choice for students in the examinations. In some cases, the adjustment measures provided more time for tuition by, for example, reducing preparatory work for practical examinations.
They provided clarity, certainty and reassurance to students, their parents/guardians, teachers and schools at the start of the 2022/2023 school year.
These adjustments were arrived at through discussions between the Department of Education, the State Examinations Commission and the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, and key stakeholders.
The changes were made with due regard for the principles of equity, fairness and integrity, in relation to student-to-student, subject-to-subject, and year-to-year comparisons.
Examination entry fees for the 2023 Leaving Certificate and Junior Cycle examination were waived. Students sitting the examinations in 2023 did not have to pay these fees, which would usually be €116 and €109 for the Leaving Certificate and Junior Cycle examinations respectively.
An alternative set of Leaving Certificate examinations ran immediately after the main set of examinations to cater for students who, for reasons such as bereavement or illness including COVID-19, were unable to sit the first set of papers. Following a review of the scheme by the State Examinations Commission, the scheme for 2023 was being provided on the same grounds as in 2022 with one change in order to provide for a candidate who experiences an extreme medical emergency during an examination.
There was also a minor change to the timing of eligibility for access on grounds of bereavement. There had also been an increase in the timeline for the completion of an application from four working days to five working days.
All results, whether from the deferred sitting or the main June sitting, issued on 25 August 2023.
For further information visit the State Examinations Commission website, examinations.ie
School authorities might note that, in due course, the results of the 2023 Junior Cycle will be provided to schools this year through the Schools Portal. Details of the arrangements for Junior Cycle results, including the date for issue of the results, will be provided at the earliest possible opportunity following confirmation of the date for issue of the Leaving Certificate appeal results.
In May this year, Minister Foley announced that adjustments will be made to the assessment arrangements for students due to sit State examinations in 2024. These will be the same as the assessment adjustments that have applied for students sitting the 2023 examinations
This summary advice note sets out the key curriculum and assessment arrangements for LCA Year 1 and Year 2 students in the 2022/23 school year.