An Analysis of the Current Leaving Certificate Points System and a New Leaving Certificate Points System

This paper provides a technical assessment of the current Leaving Certificate points system that shows it to have serious flaws. These result in the use of random selection despite significant differences in student marks and circa 20,000 students being given the same subject points as others who achieve 9 out of 100 fewer subject marks. Basing points on grades rather than on marks results in loss of precision, amplification of marking errors near grade boundaries, and pressure on markers to find extra marks near these boundaries. Variations in points per grade give undesirable fluctuations in total points and differences in grade distributions between subjects that should be taken into account are ignored. An alternative system is proposed that provides fair merit order points. It is based on the marks (standardised according to examination level) for a subject in a given year and allows valid comparison of student performances across subjects and years. It is not affected by grade inflation or deflation between years, and greatly reduces the need for random selection.