The results of some Leaving Cert graduates who cheated in this year’s state exams have been permanently withheld by the State Examinations Commission (SEC), reports RTE.
New figures from the SEC show that 39 Leaving Cert/Leaving Cert Applied exam results have been definitively withheld this year, with the SEC confirming that it has provisionally withheld a further 21 Leaving Cert results without prejudice, pending deeper communication with relevant schools and candidates.
Among the 39 exam results “permanently withheld” to applicants by the SEC this year, “includes full results withheld, or marks withheld, from candidates found to be in breach of the SEC’s examinations regulations”, reports RTE.
The 39 “permanently withheld” results are subject to appeal, and the total number of 60 permanently and provisionally retained results compares to the 61 final exam results that were definitively retained in 2022 after the completion of all review procedures.
Regarding the 39 students whose results were not disclosed this year, an SEC spokesperson said: “due to the small number of candidates involved, for privacy reasons, we do not provide any regional or gender breakdown”, reports RTE.
The 39 students who broke SEC exam rules this year represent a tiny fraction of the 59,727 candidates who sat for the Leaving Certificate exam this year and the 3,812 candidates who registered for the final exams in the framework of the Leaving Certificate Applied.
The SEC spokeswoman explained: “The most common penalty applied is the withholding of the result in the subject in question. Where a more serious breach of the regulations occurs such as copying in more than one subject, withholding of all results and/or debarring from repeating the examination may be applied. Withholding of results occurs as a consequence of a candidate attempting to gain advantage in the examination by means which contravene the regulations for the conduct of candidates during examinations as set out in the Rules and Programmes for Secondary Schools,” reports RTE.
The SEC spokeswoman said: “The principles of natural justice are applied when following up such cases. Details of the evidence available, such as superintendent’s reports, confiscated material or items, notes or work prepared that exhibits evidence of collusion, is given to the candidate through his/her school. The candidate is invited to offer a response to the evidence presented and the school authorities are also free to offer comments if they consider it appropriate,” reports RTE.
She explained: “The final decision is communicated in writing to the candidate again via his/her school. A decision to withhold a result is open to appeal. While every effort is made to conclude an investigation prior to the issue of the examination results, it is not always possible to do so,” reports RTE.
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