Vol. 509 No. 2
152 Mr. U. Burke asked the Minister for Education and Science if his attention has been drawn to the recent publication of the results of appeals for re-checks in leaving certificate results particularly in higher level English and business studies; his views on whether there is a need for change and improvement in the marking examination papers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20063/99]
In 1999 the leaving certificate examination culminated in the issue of 429,000 grades. Ultimately following the appeal process and the Department's own quality assurance measures 1,857 grades were revised. The number of grade changes, therefore, represent less than 0.5 per cent of the number of grades originally issued. This low level of grade change actually points to a very high level of precision in the marking process.
Variations occur from year to year both in terms of the number of appeals sought in individual subjects and the number of grade changes, and I do not believe any general conclusions can be drawn from the appeal outcome in particular subjects in any one year.
Furthermore, as the Deputy will be aware, in the interests of greater openness and transparency, I arranged for candidates to have access to their marked examination scripts in all subjects. As a result candidates were able to inform themselves regarding the application of the marking scheme to their scripts and in the light of this, make an informed decision regarding the need to appeal. This has resulted in a significant fall in the number of subjects appealed.
