Provisional Results of Calculated Grades for Leaving Certificate, Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme and Leaving Certificate Applied 2020

The purpose of this circular is to provide schools with details of the arrangements for both schools and students to access the Calculated Grades results for Leaving Certificate, Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme results, and Leaving Certificate Applied (Calculated Grades) results.

Leaving Certificate and Leaving Certificate Applied (LCA) students will be able to access their results on-line on the Item was unpublished or removed from 9am on Monday 7 September.

Other than in the case of LCA Year 2, individual statements of provisional results are not being posted to schools this year. Leaving Certificate students will be able to print a copy of their results statement from the portal.

LCA Year 2 students can access their session 4 results and their overall programme results through the Student Portal.

Individual end-of-programme statements of provisional results showing their accumulated credits and results for all four sessions are enclosed. LCA students will not have a facility to print their results so these should be provided to students as soon as possible.

NOTE: The results for LCA Year 1 students will be issued at a later date. Further information will be provided in due course.

This year, schools are being provided with reports of the Leaving Certificate (other than LCA) results through the Leaving Certificate Calculated Grades Application on the Esinet portal using the Approver login credentials that were used during the Data Collection process. Through the Calculated Grades application schools will be presented with the option to download the following:

• Leaving Certificate and Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme Results Matrix – PDF

This PDF will list each student, their subjects, level and calculated grade. The last page of the report contains the legend explaining subject codes, levels and the grading boundaries.

• Leaving Certificate and Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme Results Matrix – CSV format.

The matrix file is also available in CSV format which can be imported into other formats.

Matrix Reports Hard Copy

Separate matrix reports of results for Leaving Certificate and Leaving Certificate Applied students as applicable, are enclosed.

NOTE: The LCA matrix report is available in hard copy only. It is not available through Esinet. See Section 6 below for further details of the results for LCA students.

You may receive supplementary reports as follows in your mailing;

Home Economics

All Leaving Certificate subjects were graded solely on the calculated mark that was produced following the standardisation process, except in the case of Home Economics. Home Economics Coursework Journals were submitted to the State Examinations Commission (SEC) earlier in 2020 and were marked by external SEC examiners. The marks were provided by the SEC to the Department of Education and Skills to be combined with the calculated mark for the written paper to determine the overall grade. A supplementary report exists where a student did not present the coursework. In such cases, the grade is based on the calculated mark only.

No Grade Awarded

There are 2 scenarios where a grade is not present on the Schools matrix.

• where a school provided an estimated mark for a subject on behalf of a student, but the student did not register on the Student Portal or Opted out of the Calculated Grades process for the subject/s
• where the Calculated Grades Executive Office could not provide a calculated grade due to a lack of satisfactory evidence from an appropriate source on which to base an estimated percentage mark, in the case of students studying one or more subject outside of school (Form D) reports or a student studying independently

Supplementary reports detailing the list of students and grades affected by these issues are enclosed where applicable.

All Leaving Certificate subjects were graded based solely on the calculated mark, with one exception – Home Economics. The grades this year follow the same format as in previous years, 1,2,3,…with the letters H, O,F,C denoting Higher, Ordinary, Foundation, and Common level respectively.

A statement of provisional Calculated Grades Results for Year 2 Leaving Certificate Applied students is enclosed for each candidate.

The yellow matrix shows the results for each candidate for Session 4. This should be retained in the school.

The pink matrix shows the final results for each candidate in Year 2. This should be retained in the school.

The Calculated Grades results for Leaving Certificate Applied Year 2 students have been compiled using:

• Calculated Marks
• Marks for Modules as provided by the SEC
• Task results as provided by the SEC

A legend is provided at the back of each page of the printed matrix to explain the subject codes and grade boundaries.

Leaving Certificate Applied Year 2 students can also view their results for Session 4 and their overall programme result on the Student Portal. Leaving Certificate Applied students can access their results through the student portal but they will not have the facility to print a statement of provisional of results.

The Name and Date of Birth shown on the LCA Provisional Statement of Results will appear later on the Certificate of Results, unless the Department of Education is advised of any inaccuracies. Please check these details carefully and advise of any changes needed by contacting the Schools Helpdesk phoneline – details in Section 14.

NOTE: The results for LCA Year 1 students will be issued at a later date. Further information will be provided in due course.

Schools have always provided an important role in offering guidance and support to Leaving Certificate and Leaving Certificate Applied students on results day. It is recognised that for the Leaving Certificate class of 2020 the tradition of coming back to school to celebrate the results with teachers and classmates on the day that the results issue will not be the same as in previous years.

In recognising the unique set of circumstances for those students who receive calculated grades in 2020, schools will be able to put a number of measures in place to support students on the day and in the following number of days. These measures recognise the role that schools played in nurturing and supporting students throughout their years in post-primary.

You are asked to provide support to students in an appropriate way on the day, through enabling students to come to the school if they wish at a scheduled time, following COVID-19 and health and safety protocols, to meet with members of the Student Support Team such as Guidance Counsellors, Year Heads, Tutors and Chaplains.

From mid-morning on 7 September and in the following days (for the remainder of the school week), you will have discretion to release Guidance Counsellors and other members of the support team from lessons, using the Supervision and Substitution scheme. This is to allow support to be provided to students in person or on the phone.

These planned interactions with students are intended to support wellbeing and to discuss future education and career options, but there should be no discussions about school estimated marks submitted as part of the calculated grades process.

Any questions or queries in this regard should be directed to the Calculated Grades helpline/email. Guidance Counsellors will play a crucial role in supporting these young people to navigate the next steps in their education and career journey by providing up to date information and reassurance in a calm and positive manner.

Former students who attend the school for a scheduled visit will also be required to respect physical distancing requirements and to behave in a responsible way, in line with public health advice and the school’s visitor policy. Gathering large groups of students in one venue is not recommended at this time. However, schools should apply their COVID-19 protocols if organising appropriate gatherings of small groups of past students. The health and safety of the entire school community must be considered.

You also have the flexibility to ask some classes of current students not to attend school on that day to ensure adequate social distancing in schools.

The Leaving Certificate student helpline which is provided by the National Parents Council post-primary will be available from 7 September for students to reach a guidance counsellor with any queries that they may have.

The wellbeing of the students who receive the calculated grades will be supported through a number of additional measures.

a. The Leaving Certificate student helpline, at 1800 265 165, which is provided by the National Parents Council post-primary will be available from 11am on 7 September for students to reach a guidance counsellor with any queries that they may have. This helpline will operate until 16 September after the CAO first round offers and is staffed by qualified guidance counsellors. Further details can be found at npcpp.ie/leaving-cert-helpline

b. HSE/HSE-funded service providers will be available to support students through the provision of e-mental health services. hse.ie/wellbeing/mental-health/covid-19/minding-your-mental-health-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak.html

c. Wellbeing resources developed by the National Educational Psychological Service are available at Item was unpublished or removed

d. CGEO Student Helpline will be available at 1800 111135 or 1800 111136 from 9am to 4pm from Monday 7 September to Wednesday 16 September. Outside of these hours queries may be emailed to lcsupport2020@education.gov.ie Please note this helpline is provided for queries relating to the Calculated Grades results only and cannot provide advice on any other matters. (NOTE; There is a separate Helpline for Schools. See Section 13 below)

e. Information available from the Central Applications Office (CAO) at www.cao.ie

Students dissatisfied with the grade achieved will have access to an appeals process. The appeals process will be an administrative process and students may not appeal against the information provided on their behalf by the school as these have already been subjected to an in-school alignment process and oversight by the school principal.

Students may lodge an appeal through the student portal between 9am on Monday 14 September to 5pm on Wednesday 16 September.

Stage 1: Checks will be undertaken to ensure that the intended information was recorded correctly by the school on the relevant forms and that the information was transferred correctly from the forms to data collection system.

Stage 2: There will be a review to ensure that the data was correctly received and processed through the national standardisation process conducted by the department.

Data checks will include a check to ensure that the rank order of the class group for the subject and level taken has been preserved in the standardisation process and that students placed on the same school-estimated mark in the same subject and at the same level taken by the school are conferred with the same calculated mark conferred by the department.

Students dissatisfied with the outcome of the appeals process can seek further review by Independent Appeal Scrutineers.

Stages 1 and 2 will be undertaken on foot of the initial application by the student. Stage 3 will be a separate process which can be invoked by any student dissatisfied by the outcome of the initial appeal.

Students who feel that their case has not been processed correctly can make a complaint to the Ombudsman or, in the case of students under 18 years of age, the Ombudsman for Children.

All students will have the opportunity to sit the postponed Leaving Certificate Examinations which are scheduled to begin on 16th November subject to public health advice.

To ensure that the appeals process can be streamlined to the greatest possible degree, schools must return all of the documentation related to the data collection and data entry stages of the in-school phase of Calculated Grades.

That is:

• all forms A, B and C. (Forms D have already been returned)
• all of the forms printed from the Data Collection application in June including the sign-off by the Principal
• the data collection process had concluded

To facilitate the return of the materials, a special pre-addressed envelope is enclosed. The documentation should be sorted by subject, level and class ID with the Principal‘s Sign off form on top. The date for return is Friday 11 September. Please ensure to retain a copy of the documentation for the school’s records.

The State Examinations Commission is advancing plans to run the Leaving Certificate Examinations, commencing on 16 November 2020. The examinations will take place at evenings and weekends. Further details regarding these examinations will be provided by the State Examinations Commission at a later stage.

The postponed Leaving Certificate examinations will be based on written examinations only (that is, not including orals or practicals but including coursework in 5 subjects which was completed prior to school closure in March). It is not feasible or practical at this stage to conduct examinations in oral or practical components, or to try to complete unfinished coursework. Oral and practical components are school-based, requiring significant levels of support at school level, including the requirement to take serving teachers out of their schools to undertake state examinations work.

In the case of five subjects, the SEC will also mark coursework which had been completed prior to school closure and these marks will be included in the grading of these subjects.

These are:

• Home Economics (already marked by the SEC)
• LCVP Portfolio
• Design and Communication Graphics
• Physical Education (PE) Physical Activity Project
• Engineering

In all other subjects, candidates will be awarded grades solely on the written papers.

The General Data Protection Regulation and related Data Protection Act 2018 are in force. Students’ personal data should be treated with absolute regard to confidentiality and security. Extreme care should be taken when distributing the Statement of Provisional Results to Leaving Certificate Applied students, in accessing the results on the Esinet system and in retaining the results matrices in paper or electronic format. Schools should follow their own Data Protection policies in this regard.

There is now a requirement for organisations to report personal data breaches to the relevant supervisory authority, where the breach presents a risk to the affected individuals. Where applicable the SEC will notify the Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) within 72 hours of Data breaches that are advised to the Department of Education and Skills.

In the course of distributing LCA Provisional Statements of Results, you think there might be a possible Dat14.

Helpline for Schools – Freephone number

School Authorities with enquiries about the results that they have received can contact the department on cgdatacollection@education.gov.ie in the first instance. For more urgent queries, freephone 1800 111138 or 1800 111139. Please note that due to COVID-19 restrictions this service will operate at a reduced capacity from 10am to 4pm on Monday 7 September and will deal exclusively with post result issue enquiries from school authorities only. The line is not linked to the switchboard and should only be used for queries on the Leaving Certificate Calculated Grades Results. If you call the number for any other reason it will not be possible to transfer your call to any other section within the department. For this service to operate effectively it is essential that the freephone number is made available only to bona fide representatives of the school for their use on matters related to the issue of the Leaving Certificate results alone.

In general, matters raised by students or their parents that necessitate contact with the department be processed through the school authority concerned. Individual students or their parents who nonetheless wish to contact the department directly should be advised to call 1800 111135 or 1800 111136.

a Breach, please immediately contact the Department of Education and Skills Data Protection officer by sending an email to dpo@education.gov.ie

School Authorities with enquiries about the results that they have received can contact the department on cgdatacollection@education.gov.ie in the first instance.

For more urgent queries, freephone 1800 111138 or 1800 111139. Please note that due to COVID-19 restrictions this service will operate at a reduced capacity from 10am to 4pm on Monday 7 September and will deal exclusively with post result issue enquiries from school authorities only.

The line is not linked to the switchboard and should only be used for queries on the Leaving Certificate Calculated Grades Results. If you call the number for any other reason it will not be possible to transfer your call to any other section within the department. For this service to operate effectively it is essential that the freephone number is made available only to bona fide representatives of the school for their use on matters related to the issue of the Leaving Certificate results alone.

In general, matters raised by students or their parents that necessitate contact with the department be processed through the school authority concerned. Individual students or their parents who nonetheless wish to contact the department directly should be advised to call 1800 111135 or 1800 111136.