THIS YEAR’S POSTPONED Leaving Certificate examinations get underway later today, with just 2,569 students set to sit the exams.

Candidates were given the option earlier this year to choose to receive Calculated Grades and/or to sit written examinations at a later date when it was considered safe to hold them. 

The first exams begin today and will finish on 11 December for the Leaving Certificate, with the Leaving Certificate Applied exams finishing on 28 November. 

Candidates will sit their exams in the school or other venue at which they had been scheduled to sit the June 2020 exams.

Students sitting the written examinations over the next few weeks who opted to receive Calculated Grades will be credited with the higher subject grade achieved between the written exams and Calculated Grades. 

These results will have the same status as the Leaving Cert results for other years. 

The opportunity to sit Junior Cycle examinations was also offered to adult learners and early school leavers who were due to sit these exams this year. A total of 60 candidates registered to sit these exams. 

“I would like to wish all the very best to each candidate sitting these examinations over the coming weeks,” Education Minister Norma Foley said. 

“This has been an unprecedented year and I would like to acknowledge the dedication shown by all of you during this challenging period,” Foley said. 

“I know that this has been a long and arduous process for you and I hope that these exams go as well as you hope and are the culmination of all your extraordinary efforts.”