Vol. 424 No. 8
152 Mr. Noonan (Limerick East) asked the Minister for Education the procedure followed in re-checking scripts of leaving certificate students; the reason the checking of less than 5,000 scripts takes such a long time; and if his attention has been drawn to the concern of students that the long delay in re-checking scripts may prejudice their chances of gaining the place of their choice in third level colleges.
Each script on which a review is sought is fully marked afresh by an experienced examiner, other than the original examiner. Where the appeal examiner considers that an upgrade may be warranted, the script is also reviewed by the Inspector for the subject. A change in grade is implemented where the Inspector agrees with the appeal examiner that an upgrade is warranted.
This year the closing date for receipt of applications for review was 4th September as against 31st August previously. The applications had to be verified against fees received and each of the 4,318 scripts located amongst the half million Leaving Certificate scrips held. The scrips were then forwarded to the appeal examiners. Each examiner was allocated about 50 scripts and given two weeks to complete the work, taking into account that teaching duties had been resumed. Inspectors were requested to deal with any scripts forwarded to them as a matter of priority.
