‘I’VE NEVER BEEN MORE STRESSED OUT IN MY LIFE’
A TIPPERARY student who believes he has likely had his Leaving Cert points total affected by the grades error has described the blunder as a ‘complete shambles’.
Dylan McLaughlin, 18, was hoping to get at least 530 points in his predicted grade, as this is what he achieved in his mock exams earlier this year, he told RTÉ’s Liveline yesterday.
However, in his final result from the Department of Education, he was downgraded from a H1 in three subjects. His final grade was 507 points – meaning he missed out on his first CAO choice of PE and Irish in University of Limerick.
‘They completely robbed me out of my three H1s,’ he told the Irish Daily Mail.
‘The day I opened the results, my heart just sank. I was always in favour of calculated grades… but I called for a fair calculated grade.’ Dylan has since accepted his fourth CAO choice of primary teaching in Mary I mmaculate College, Limerick.
And while he has decided to stay in this course even if his results are upgraded, he still wants his points corrected for the record.
‘Even if my points do go up, I’m still going to keep my place in primary school teaching,’ he said. ‘I just want that piece of paper to tell me what I really got in my Leaving Cert, because I’m not satisfied with 507.’
Dylan said this year has already been stressful for students and their families, and that this error is making it worse.
‘To me, it’s a complete shambles because we all suffered so much throughout this year, even the week of results and the week of the CAO,’ he said.
‘My mother and father, they’d be as cool as a breeze any time. My father didn’t sleep the week beforehand, he was certain I wasn’t going to get any CAO offers. I was so lucky to even get a CAO offer.
‘The weeks leading up to the Leaving Cert being called off, I’ve never been more stressed out in my life. Even yesterday, I was in the middle of a lecture… and it pops up again – Leaving Cert 2020, here we go again. I just want to get on with it.’