Leaving Cert results 2024: Most students’ grades inflated to match last year’s record set of results

How, exactly, were grades artificially increased?
Students receiving their results from 10am this morning may be pleasantly surprised to see how well they have done.
All grades have been artificially boosted by 7.5 per cent which, in turn, has increased more than two thirds of grades.
This is down a direction from the Minister for Education Norma Foley, who told the State Examinations Commission (SEC) to ensure this year’s Leaving Cert result are kept at the same high levels of 2021-2023.
We’ve covered why she did this in earlier posts – but how was it achieved?
All 2024 Leaving Cert students were marked as normal.
Once this was completed, experts examined the attainment gap between this year and last year’s results.
It required grades to be adjusted upwards by an average of 7.5 per cent over recent weeks.
The range of upward adjustment for individual grades varied from between 12.1 per cent for those at the bottom of the scale to 4.8 per cent at the top.
This resulted in 68 per cent of students’ grades, overall, increasing.
Educational Testing Services were contracted to support the SEC in designing and implementing this post-marking adjustment. Additionally, a separate contract was awarded Trinity College Dublin to undertake quality assurance checks on the work.
Why were grades inflated to match last year’s levels?
Most of this year’s Leaving Cert students’ grades have been artificially inflated by exam authorities by an average of 7.5 per cent to bring them into line with record highs of recent years.
This, in turn, has boosted more than two-thirds (68 per cent) of students’ grades.
Why?
It follows a direction by Minister for Education Norma Foley that this year’s overall Leaving Cert exam results should be kept in line with record highs of recent years.
This is so students are not disadvantaged in the competition for college places again applicants from recent years. (In any given year, about a quarter of college applicants are presenting results from previous years).
Keeping grades at a high level, however, has downsides.
Ms Foley has pledged to begin a “phased” reduction in Leaving Cert results from next year.
Junior Cycle results: release date confirmed
All the focus is on Leaving Certs today – but a development for Junior Cycle students may get lost in all the noise.
The State Examinations Commission has confirmed that it intends to issue Junior Cycle results on Wednesday, 9 October, a week earlier than last year.
There has been criticism over the late release of results in recent years.
However, an increase in the supply of teachers working as examiners means authorities have been able to mark exams more quickly.
How will this year’s results affect CAO points next week?
It’s the big question facing students: how will this year’s Leaving Cert results affect CAO points when college offers issue on Wednesday?
With this year’s grades on a par with last year, we can expect CAO points to at least remain at a high level.
Guidance counsellor Brian Mooney, however, says better maths results this year at higher level will lead to an “avalanche” of additional bonus points.
This, in turn, may put upward pressure on points in high-demand courses.
This is his take on this year’s results:
“Higher-level maths continues to deliver an avalanche of bonus CAO points for Leaving Cert students. Some 20,330 students sat higher level in 2024. Of these, almost all – 19,640 – secured 25 bonus CAO points. (The other 690 students did not because they scored a H7 or lower.) This means there are some 490,000-plus bonus CAO points added to applicants’ scores, which will inevitably be reflected in a continuation of high points requirements in next Wednesday college offers. Higher-level Irish students also continued to outperform most subjects with 94 per cent of them securing a H5 or higher.”
Subject by subject: what’s up and what’s down?
In advance of the students’ results being issued their results, the State Examinations Commission has released a subject-by-subject breakdown of how students fared in each exam.
Peter McGuire has a detailed overview here.
In higher level maths, for example, H1s dropped significantly, from 18 per cent to 11 per cent. This year, however, the number of H1s is up to 13 per cent.
We’ve also compiled a chart, below, showing the proportion of top grades by subject area – and the trends over recent years.
Results day: what we know so far
Thousands of students (and their parents) face a nervous wait before they can access today’s results online at 10am.
So, what do we know so far?
The graph, below, gives a sense of how the proportion of top grades has increased dramatically since the pandemic and stayed at a high level since 2021.
You can read more on this year’s results here.