Leaving Cert postponed until July or August and Junior Cert cancelled
The Junior Cert exams have been cancelled this year and the Leaving Cert exams are to be postponed at least until the end of July due to the current Covid-19 crisis, the Minister for Education has announced.
Junior Cert exams scheduled to take place in June will be replaced instead with school-based exams and assessments to take place early in the new school year.
Leaving Cert exams will be pushed back until at least to the last week in July or the start of August, Education Minister Joe McHugh confirmed this Friday.
This follows a meeting between the Department of Education and the National Public Health Emergency Team that took place earlier today.
Practical examinations for Leaving Certificate students due to have been held in May are now deferred. They will be rescheduled for late July/early August.
The new Leaving Certificate exam timetable will be confirmed in early June.
Schools are also to remain closed until further notice in line with the current public health advice.
Today I have taken a series of decisions in relation to schools and the state exams.
— Joe McHugh (@McHughJoeTD) April 10, 2020
There is no perfect solution. But I believe this is the fairest decision we could take.
We are planning in the best interests of our students and their families.#coronavirus #COVID19 https://t.co/o0aeUWxvBG
Minister McHugh said: “All decisions we are taking in relation to rescheduling exams are based on current public health advice and put the best interests of students first. The welfare of students and that of their families is front and centre in all decision making.
"The final arrangements for the exams, the exam centres, social distancing and other measures will all be determined by the State Examinations Commission (SEC) on foot of public health advice in June."
Students have recently been pushing for the use of predicted-grades; A recent study carried out by the Irish Second Level Students Union (ISSU) found the majority of Leaving Cert students surveyed were in favour of using predicted grades.
