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Thousands of students may have received higher grades than they received due to errors in the coding of calculated grades, Education Minister al Dáil said on Thursday.
In addition to the 6,500 students who received lower grades than they should, Norma Foley said it was possible that a similar number of students would have received higher grades than expected. They will maintain their highest grade.
When asked by Solidarity TD Mick Barry if the inflated grades of these students might have “squeezed” some students out of their chosen CAO courses, Ms. Foley said, “That is absolutely very possible.”
A full review of the grading process will take place, Ms. Foley told Dáil as she again apologized to Leaving Certificate students for coding errors “that shouldn’t have happened.”
Students who receive an alternative college offer may continue in their current course of the year. “They remain eligible for free tuition and Susi funding as if they were starting college for the first time.”
She told Dáil that registration for the Exit Certificate will run from 5 pm on Friday until next Wednesday.
Ms. Foley added that “any student who is entitled to a different offer will receive this offer or a deferred offer as soon as possible.” And she said that if they want to postpone an offer they should contact the university.
Some students received a higher grade. “Their upper tiers will not be affected in any way.
Those who received a lower degree of illness recover their corresponding degree. “When all of our checks are complete, we will issue the corrected results to the affected students.”
Each student will be informed by text if they are affected or not. If they are affected, they will receive a new statement of interim results on the student portal for calculated grades.
Ms. Foley defended the timing of the release of the information and said it was disclosed as soon as the information became available.
Donnchadh O Laoghaire, Sinn Féin Education Spokesperson, How Polymetrika Got the Contract Ms Foley said the company had been hired to advise on the ratings calculated in May and that the department took advantage of a negotiated acquisition procedure to name the company .
Ms. Foley said that “we are going to do everything we can” to “ensure that students are eligible for offers this academic year.”
He said he wanted to make sure we “delivered for the students.”
Dáil was previously told that the coding error in the Leaving Certificate’s calculated grade system was identified when the person involved in modeling the coding was working on the results of the Applied Leaving Certificate.
The leader of the Green Party, Eamon Ryan, defended the delay in making the information public in the face of criticism that it was the latest installment of the government’s “fiasco factory”.
Ryan also said that the exact number of students affected by bugs in the expected Leaving Certificate grading system will only be known when running a new model with revised code that has been verified to ensure there are no further bugs.
And he said the Leaving Certificate exam would continue next year. The class of 2021 was having a “different experience” in the classrooms affected by Covid.
“The message for upcoming Leaving Cert students is that there will be Leaving Cert exams next May and June.”
Ryan also said the second round of exit certificate offers was held last Wednesday because it was unclear whether the coding error would have any effect on the CAO process.
He understood that a new offer from the CAO will be made “towards the end of next week.” That was “the best advice” they had on how long it would take to resolve the qualification error.
They won’t know the exact numbers until the revised code is wrong and the verifications are done, but he believed it would be less than 1,000 students.
Last year, about 3,000 students got an upgrade and 600 students got a different college option. It was a case where students looked for an update. “In this case, it is random.”
Unacceptable
Responding to questions from leaders in the Dáil, Mr. Ryan said the error was identified during verifications of the applied Certificate of Completion, a profession-oriented version of the exam.
Under intense pressure from the opposition, Ryan insisted that “no one was kept in the dark about this” in the controversy over the discovery of two errors in the grading system affecting the grades of more than 6,000 students.
Ryan asked TDs to consider that if the topic had been released before all the information was available, it would have created real distress and anxiety, he said.
Consensual leader Peadar Tóibín described the controversy as the latest installation of a “fiasco factory” of the Government.
He asked, “Did the company make this mistake? Consequently, are you responsible for the financial costs that will accrue to the State or did the Department give incorrect instructions? Will the taxpayer keep the costs again? “
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