Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 January 2018
112. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to abolish or reduce the examination fee for the leaving certificate in order to maximise participation in the leaving certificate examination; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2641/18]
View answerI have no plans to abolish or reduce the examination fee for the Leaving Certificate.
The entry fee for the Leaving Certificate is €116. Lower rates of examination fees apply to candidates who are sitting only one or two subjects in the examination and who are entered for the examination through the Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme (VTOS), the Back to Education Initiative (BTEI) or other similar schemes. There has been no increase in the Leaving Certificate examination fee since 2012.
The State Examinations Commission collects examinations fees from candidates sitting examinations each year. Fees are collected in order to defray some of the costs of running the examinations, with the remaining cost paid for from exchequer funding. In 2016 the SEC collected €8,609,569 in examination fees and received €55,030,789 in exchequer funding.
In recognition that not all candidates are in a position to pay examination fees each year, the SEC operates a fee alleviation scheme. A waiver of the examination fee applies in the case of candidates who hold a full medical card or are dependent on a parent or guardian who holds a full medical card by a specified date each year.
By way of context, in 2016 there were 55,707 Leaving Certificate candidates. 20,177 of those candidates (36%) were exempt from the examination fee under the fee alleviation scheme.
