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Over 60,000 students across Ireland have just a few hours to wait for the Leaving Cert results, which will be released tomorrow morning.
This year, for the first time since exams began nearly 100 years ago, students will receive calculated grades instead of physically showing up for their exams, as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
With schools closed since mid-March, it has been a long wait for the class of 2020. Tomorrow they will receive their grades calculated online.
Many students struggled with internet problems during remote learning. It will be interesting to see how the system manages tomorrow when thousands of students log in at 9am to access their results.
In Tralee, Co Kerry, the local district of Education Minister Norma Foley, students at Mercy High School in Mounthawk are curious, nervous and excited.
Sean Hennessy told RTÉ’s This Week that he is relieved that they will get calculated ratings after weeks of uncertainty.
“It was a bit like a roller coaster of emotions. In March, the idea was that the Leaving Cert would be there in June, so you know, it was head down and studying hard.
“Then Covid happened. And then it was up in the air whether or not we would have it in June, whether it would be postponed or canceled.
“Digitizing education through June was really tough. I think I’m happy that we ended up with calculated grades.”
Danny Sheehy actively campaigned for the Leaving Cert and the use of calculated grades to be canceled.
“I am quite happy with the current process.
“We come together through our student union and other forces and demand things like eliminating school profiles and standardizing grades if it’s at an unfair level.”
Danny still has some concerns after initial data from the Department of Education indicated that 17% of the calculated grades will be lowered.
“I think it’s a pretty high number, so I’m looking forward to seeing the breakdown of how it actually happened.”
The issue of what happened to A-level students in the UK also had an impact on students here. There was a U-turn in the predicted grades after a major upset from the standardization of grades.
Ardfert’s Mairead Kearney had serious concerns after the events in England occurred.
“The controversy over A levels exacerbated some anxiety that I had myself.
“But I think Norma Foley and Simon Harris have been very good at dealing with student concerns. They held a press conference recently and that really calmed me down.”
Mairead is satisfied that the calculated grades will be a fair system. He has worked hard for the past two years and is happy to be judged for his previous performance.
“I guess it became clear that traditional Leaving Cert would not be feasible, so at least with predictive qualification we can continue in third-level education.”
Many Tralee students are unsure how to fully plan for the next few months.
The CAO’s offerings are due out on Friday, but some colleges and universities have yet to release schedules for some of their courses, according to students.
Sean Capliss has University College Cork and University of Limerick among his top picks.
“I have never been too anxious about my results because the points in the fields I want are not that high. But I am still a little nervous about that.
“If I get Cork, I’ll probably move there. Even if there are restrictions on the university, they can’t close a city completely.
“But at UL, the students will only attend one week a month. I’m not sure it’s worth paying for accommodation if I go there.”
Sean has also been thinking about how college life will compare before the pandemic.
“The first six months or maybe the whole year will definitely be completely different. It depends on what happens to the virus.
“There will be no big nights out, no meeting people or anything, so I’m not sure what’s going to happen.”
Sarah Healy from Ballyheigue, also a Mercy Mounthawk student, would have preferred to take the exit certificate and “likes the way we have the opportunity to do it in November.”
However, this would mean delaying college until 2021. “I don’t like that, you wouldn’t know which way the dots would go.”
While some students may be glad they don’t have to take the test, Sarah feels like they are missing a crucial moment to remember for the rest of their lives.
“We are already arguing a bit about making a false exit certificate. I would have preferred to do a normal exit certificate, but these are strange times.”
Sarah hopes to study Finance at UCC if she gets the points. “I have accommodation in Cork but we don’t have schedules or anything yet.”
Tomorrow morning the students will not go to their schools to collect their results with their friends. There will be no graduation celebrations or hugs.
The Tralee students said they will meet a friend or two tomorrow night or enjoy a family dinner, but there will be no parties according to public health restrictions.
Charlotte O’Halloran is disappointed that her classmates cannot come together to celebrate the Leaving Cert results.
But at least they were able to enjoy a school milestone that most other students have been denied due to the coronavirus.
“Fortunately, we were able to have our Debs,” he told RTÉ News. “It was the year other people were jealous that we had a winter debt because people generally preferred a summer debt.
“The night was just amazing and we are so grateful that we were able to have it.”
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