Errors have been uncovered in the Leaving Cert calculated grades system, with the Minister for Education due to make a full statement later this afternoon.
Around 10% of students who received calculated grades will be impacted by this, and it's expected many of those grades will be revised up.
Minister Norma Foley’s announcement has been described as “significant,” with officials expected to set up an emergency helpine for students.
Speaking in the Dáil this lunchtime, the Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the Department of Education would be making a full statement on the matter.
“The Department of Education and Skills has found, to my understanding, two errors in the Leaving Certificate 2020 calculated grades,” @MichealMartinTD
The Minister for Education is due to make a full statement later this afternoon and you can keep up to date on Newstalk pic.twitter.com/hMuqODw226
— NewstalkFM (@NewstalkFM) September 30, 2020
“The Department of Education and Skills has found, to my understanding, two errors in the Leaving Certificate 2020 calculated grades,” he said.
“My understanding is that the Minister for Education will be making a comprehensive statement today in relation to this, in terms of both what has occurred and the measures taken to rectify that, the rechecking of that process and bringing in an independent external evaluation.”
He said the Government’s main aim is to “ease as much anxiety as we possibly can in relation to the students themselves.”
“Our objective and the priority has to be the students themselves in terms of how they receive this information.
"Students who may receive upgrades in terms of some of their grades as a result of these errors, they have to be communicated with first."
The CAO third round offers had been due to be released tomorrow and are likely to be deferred.
The CAO will also have to consider whether anyone who has jumped points and should have gotten the course they initially wanted will be able to take it up this year.
