Minister for Education Joe McHugh T.D. has officially announced the postponement of the 2020 Leaving Certificate.
All students are to be offered the option of receiving Calculated Grades for the subjects they are studying. Students can also opt for the alternative of sitting the 2020 Leaving Certificate examinations at a date in the future when it is considered safe.
The decision was made at Cabinet following an assessment of public health advice and other information and the implications for holding the exams from the previously rescheduled date of Wednesday 29 July 2020.
Minister McHugh said: “I have made every effort to run the 2020 Leaving Certificate as close as possible to the way the examinations were originally intended to be held.
“My desire had been to allow students to undertake the written and practical examinations in July and August but I have compelling evidence, based on medical advice and other assessments, that the Leaving Certificate examinations cannot be held in a reliable and valid manner, nor in a way that would be equitable for students.”
Minister McHugh said: “The reality of the impact of Covid-19 has led to a decision that has never happened in our country before. I fully appreciate the magnitude of this issue, for the students and their families, for the teachers and for school principals.
“This decision is taken with the best interests of students at heart. I have a responsibility to find a fair way to address the disadvantage that some students are facing and the impact a lack of time in school has had in recent weeks.
“The system being put in place will allow a young person to progress to the next stage of their life in a timely fashion.
“The fairest and most equitable way to do that in the current circumstances is to offer students the option of Calculated Grades for the 2020 Leaving Certificate but also to guarantee them the right to sit the examinations at a later stage when it is safe to hold them in the normal way.
“The decision has to be taken now to remove the anxiety that many students have been experiencing over how the exams would look later in the summer.”
Minister McHugh thanked the advisory group of stakeholders for their input in recent weeks in relation to the holding of the examinations.
