Second chance: Option to sit Leaving Certificate in November

Leaving Cert 2020 candidates who are not happy with their results today may opt to sit written exams in November.

The Department of Education has announced November 16 as the provisional date for the start of the exams postponed from June. It’s provisional because it depends on the public health advice at the time, and the plan is to hold the exams in the evenings and on weekends. There will be no fee.

The State Examinations Commission is working with the Department on arrangements for the exams, which include the Leaving Cert Established, Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme (LCVP) and the Leaving Certificate Applied (LCA).

One attraction is that students can use a combination of results from the Calculated Grades process and the November sitting for CAO points; if there is a variation in results in particular subjects, they get the benefit of the better grade.

A downside is that the written exams come too late for entry to college this autumn. Considering the extent of the disruption to their education earlier this year, students will have to consider how motivated they are and how they would revise for the exams.

The Department has announced that the exams will be written only. They will be based on the normal question paper format. There will be no orals, which is an important consideration for language students who would have been relying on that element of the exam to boost their grade.

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