A fee of €40 is required to get an exam paper re-checked. This initial fee is refunded if a higher grade is awarded following the appeal. However, with only 1,698 upgrades given out of almost 10,000 exam paper appeals, perhaps education method for the Leaving Certificate needs to be changed.

Over the past few years we’ve seen a change in the way that the Junior Certificate is taught and graded. The traditional Junior Certificate has been replaced with a new concept called the Junior Cycle Student Award (JCSA) which began in 2014.

The JCSA aims to focus on new subjects and short courses with a strong focus on literacy, numeracy and key skills for students. In April 2015, former Minister for Education and Skills Jan O’Sullivan described the five abiding principles in the new JCSA system. She pinpointed five main ideas which included the need to focus on a wide range of learning and to put less emphasis on one terminal exam.  She also mentioned an assessment of student’s knowledge and the need to stress the importance of classroom-based assessment.

The idea behind this new system of teaching and grading in the JCSA is to offer well-rounded education in different subjects while acknowledging the fact that there is more than just one way of learning. The focus will no longer solely be striving towards a high grade in one overall end exam. Instead it will aim towards having a good understanding of different topics through different methods of teaching and learning.

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: http://www.thecollegeview.com/2016/10/26/traditional-teaching-passed-sell-date/