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The Leaving Certificate class of 2020 will receive results later this morning that are higher than any other year on record.
Around 60,000 students are receiving their results today.
This year’s computed grade process has produced grades that are on average 4.4% higher than last year, according to aggregate data released by the Department of Education.
In higher-level jobs, the proportion of H1 grades awarded increased 3% compared to last year, from 5.9% of the total to 8.9%.
The proportion of H1 and H2 ratings awarded increased by 5%, from one in five (20.9%) to one in four (25.9%).
At the ordinary level, the number of O1 and O2 ratings awarded has increased by 3.5%.
The increase in top grades awarded varies by subject, with one of the smallest increases in upper-level English, an increase of just 1.3%.
At the other end of the scale, 8.5% of Higher Level Art students will receive an H1, compared to just 3.2% last year.
Nearly 30% of those who studied higher applied mathematics will receive an H1, compared to just 16.5% last year, while nearly 42% of the 48 students who studied Latin will receive an H1 compared to just 18 , 5% last year.
The data shows that if national standardization had not been applied to teacher-estimated outcomes, this year’s grade inflation would have been higher again, around 5.3%.
The figures show that without this moderation more than a third of all the ratings awarded at the top level would have been H1 and H2. That would have represented a 12% increase.
The graphs below illustrate the big picture, with the estimated grade achieved by the schools represented in blue.
The yellow line represents the final calculated grade, after national standardization.
A Department of Education official described the overall result of the national moderation as “dividing the difference” between the pattern from previous years and the much higher grades estimated by the schools.
Last week, the government approved the abandonment of plans to use the schools’ previous Leaving Certificate performance in the national standardization process.
This has been a key factor in driving this year’s results.
Commenting on the final results, the Department of Education has said that if the historical performance of the schools had been used, then 60% of the Higher Level scores estimated by would have been reduced, and 25% of the scores Ordinary Level.
In the end, just under 17% of school grades dropped.
The Department of Education said the data shows “strong evidence of overestimation of estimated grades … more pronounced at the upper level” by teachers and schools.
He said this was “a reflection of a natural tendency for teachers to overestimate their students’ scores.”
The gender gap is slightly wider than in previous years
Each year, women outperform men on the Leaving Certificate exams.
Although the process of calculated grades did not have any specific mechanism to maintain this differential, the final result shows that female students once again receive higher results overall than those awarded to men.
The gender gap this year is slightly higher than in previous years.
There was concern that students from disadvantaged backgrounds could be further harmed by the calculated grading process.
However, the Department of Education said the data shows that this had not happened.
He said the gap between results for non-DEIS schools and DEIS schools was narrower than in previous years.
The results are available to students online from 9 am this morning.
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