The amount of Leaving Cert students who have had results withheld for cheating revealed

A total of 39 Leaving Cert students have had their results permanently withheld for cheating, the State Examinations Commission (SEC) has confirmed. 

This includes full results withheld, or marks withheld, from candidates found to be in breach of the SEC's examinations regulations. A decision to withhold a result or marks is open to appeal.

In addition the SEC has provisionally withheld 21 other results, on a without prejudice basis,  pending further communication with the schools and candidates concerned. 

In 2022, following the conclusion of all review and appeal processes 61 results in Leaving Certificate examinations were permanently withheld.  These include full results withheld, or marks withheld, from candidates found to be in breach of the SEC's examinations regulations.

A spokesperson for the commission said: "In the interest of being fair to all candidates, the SEC must be satisfied that marks awarded have been gained fairly and will investigate any suggestion, suspicion or allegation of cheating or other impropriety in relation to the examinations. This is essential in order to uphold the integrity of the Irish State examinations system and to underpin equity and fairness within the system in order to enable all candidates to display their achievements on an equal footing.

"The SEC would strongly caution any student that might be tempted to cheat that serious consequences can result. They could lose marks or the full result in a subject; they could lose the results of the entire examination; or they could be debarred from entering for any of the State examinations for a specified period" they said. 

The most common penalty applied is the withholding of the result in the subject in question. Where a more serious breach of the regulations occurs such as copying in more than one subject, withholding of all results and/or debarring from repeating the examination may be applied.

Withholding of results occurs as a consequence of a candidate attempting to gain advantage in the examination by means which contravene the regulations for the conduct of candidates during examinations as set out in the Rules and Programmes for Secondary Schools.

The regulations apply equally to practical and project work as well as to the work presented in the written examination.  Any incidence of suspected copying, improper assistance from another party, plagiarism or procurement of pieces prepared by another party are thoroughly investigated by the SEC and the candidate is liable to have penalties imposed as provided for in the Rules and Programme for Secondary Schools. 

These cases can come to light in a number of ways including:

·               An examiner may detect similar work from more than one candidate when correcting work from the same centre.

·               While marking an examination script, an examiner may discover memorandum, notes or paper brought in by a candidate in an attempt to gain an advantage in the examination.

·               An examination superintendent may detect a candidate using prohibited items such as books, mobile phones etc. or attempting to contact another candidate in the centre. The superintendent submits a report of the incident to the SEC.

Candidates undertaking examinations must comply with the rules for the conduct of candidates in the state examinations. 

The principles of natural justice are applied when following up such cases, the spokesperson said. Details of the evidence available, such as superintendent’s reports, confiscated material or items, notes or work prepared that exhibits evidence of collusion, is given to the candidate through his/her school. 

The candidate is invited to offer a response to the evidence presented and the school authorities are also free to offer comment if they consider it appropriate. The final decision is communicated in writing to the candidate again via his/her school.  A decision to withhold a result is open to appeal.  While every effort is made to conclude an investigation prior to the issue of the examination results, it is not always possible to do so.  

In these circumstances results are withheld on a without prejudice basis pending further communication with the schools and candidates concerned. The SEC fully respects the protection afforded to all candidates under the Data Protection Acts and is therefore prohibited from releasing information which could be used to identify any candidate to third parties.

While the entire matter is treated with the utmost confidentiality, I can confirm that a total of 39 Leaving Certificate/Leaving Certificate Applied results have been permanently withheld at the 2023 Leaving Certificate.

Due to the small number of candidates involved, for privacy reasons, we do not provide any regional or gender breakdown.