Seeking a recheck can result in a higher offer
IF a candidate wishes to apply to have their exam paper rechecked, they may do so. Anyone considering an appeal is strongly advised to view their scripts first (see opposite) to establish whether there is a basis for seeking a recheck.
Candidates may appeal as many subjects as they wish, if they feel a paper has been incorrectly marked, or if they have received the wrong grade. This may result in an upgrade and even an offer for a higher choice course.
This year, the State Examinations Commission (SEC) is encouraging candidates to use the online appeals application service. This is a very straightforward process, which opens on examinations.ie at noon on August 20. Candidates can log in using their exam number and pin.
While there is no charge for viewing a script, there is a fee of €40 to recheck a Leaving Cert (Established) subject and €15.50 to recheck a Leaving Certificate Applied subject.
Once a candidate has selected the subjects and made payment, they can print an Appeal Confirmation Form, which must be submitted to the organising superintendent at their school — this is the teacher who was in charge of organising the exams — by the evening of September 3.
If it is not possible to complete the application online, candidates can request a paper application from the SEC.
The results of rechecks will not be available until early October. Therefore, candidates must make their decisions around accepting courses without the results of their recheck.
If a candidate is upgraded in October and it is found that they missed out on a place as a result of not receiving the correct grade initially, they should contact the CAO (email is often best) to discuss the possibility of changing courses. About 200 to 300 students usually get a belated offer from the CAO as a result of a recheck.
Even though students are usually motivated to apply for a recheck asa result of narrowly missing out on a higher preference course, many students who get an offer in October, as a result of an appeal, decide to stay on the course on which they have already started, as they have made friends, found accommodation and settled in.
There is the possibility that a result will be downgraded, but this is less likely if the script has been viewed and there are good grounds for the appeal. However, the number of downgrades each year is minimal — in 2017 it was four out of 9,806 appeals of individual grades by 5,615 candidates. There were 1,425 upgrades.