1: Students will feel the effects of an upturn in the marking system:
Students anticipating their exam results after 10 am today are in for a delightful comprehension of exceeding their expectations. The grading of this year’s Leaving Cert students was revised upwards as per the directive of Minister for Education, Norma Foley, in April. The grade adjustment was aligned with the higher standards of the 2021-2023 period. The original scripts of all Leaving Cert pupils of 2024 were augmented by an average of 7.5 per cent in the past few weeks. The extent of grade improvement varied, with an increase of 12.1 per cent for the lowest range to 4.8 per cent at the upper end. Overall, 68 per cent of students enjoyed a grade rise.
2: Intense competition for CAO points are likely in certain areas:
The elation over higher scores may prove to be fleeting for some students once they check their CAO offers next Wednesday afternoon. A few students boasting a score of over 600 points today, might fail to secure a place in their preferred course next Wednesday. The incredibly unlucky population of CAO applicants who have a maximum score of 625 and still fail to secure a position in their first-choice course due to the random selection process will be even more frustrated. This process is triggered when the number of applicants with a certain CAO points is more than the remaining vacancies. The good news is that this misfortune only affected a few applicants in the courses last year.
3: Higher-level maths results in a landslide of bonus points:
A substantial amount of bonus CAO points continues to be obtained by higher-level maths Leaving Cert students. About 20,330 students sat for higher-level exams in 2024. Of these candidates, nearly all – 19,640 – secured 25 bonus CAO points. The remaining 690 students missed this opportunity due to scoring a H7 or lower. This results in an addition of over 490,000 bonus CAO points to students’ scores, which will undeniably be seen in higher point requirements in the college offers next Wednesday. Remarkably, higher-level Irish students also continued to outperform the majority of subjects, with 94 per cent achieving a H5 or higher.
4: Northern Students face potential bias:
The decision of Norma Foley to uphold grade inflation to preceding levels is not appreciated by those applying through the CAO from North of Ireland and the UK, who have recently achieved A-level awards, along with students who undertook the International Baccalaureate (IB), and the numerous CAO applicants from mainland Europe. Grade inflation is now a phenomenon of the past outside of Ireland. Despite this, the exam grades of these external applicants will be assimilated into CAO points using a pre-existing calculation. Their inclusion means they must vie for university places on an equal footing with Leaving Cert students possessing inflated grades, as of the coming Wednesday.
5: The deficit of teachers for examination duties lessens
Money speaks volumes in every sphere of life, and in 2023, the State Examinations Commission substantially augmented the remunerations offered to teachers agreeing to partake in marking. Through launching a targeted website, it touted both the professional and financial gains for teachers willing to participate. This operation has proved highly effective, and today saw the issuance of the results, facilitating some universities to welcome their first-year students on campus at the onset of September. Debilitating obstacles have been faced by students and universities alike in recent years, due to delayed results, leading to frantic searching for accommodation by students and universities striving to gently integrate new students via orientation sessions.