The expert advisory group on the certificate examinations reported earlier this year. Its report did not contain any recommendation in relation to repeat examinations.
There are significant difficulties in the provision of repeat examinations. Such constraints, inherent in a terminal and externally examined examination system, are not imposed by any Minister. They exist as fact and derive from the length of the school year, the time required for holding examinations, arranging for marking conferences, the numbers of suitably qualified persons available to act as examiners, the necessity to provide ample time for those examiners to conduct the marking to a high standard and by the pressing requirement of having results available to feed into the college entry process which is conducted by the CAO and college admissions departments in August each year. Given these constraints, our State examination system currently operates against the tightest of timescales and to maximum capacity in delivering a high quality product at both leaving and junior certificate levels.
I should stress that every possible effort is made by my Department to assist candidates in sitting for their examinations. Each year, arrangements are made to cater for a wide range of emergencies. These include alterations to the standard examination timetable and special sittings in venues such as hospitals. My Department's psychological service also assists schools and students in crisis during the examinations.
