Legal challenges to Leaving Cert results seem certain, but that’s nothing new

This year’s new system of calculated grades had to be designed and implemented very quickly, and some litigation is inevitable, but there are reasons to be optimistic too

Rebecca Carter at University College Dublin in 2018 following her High Court case win to get a Leaving Cert marking mistake fixed in time for her to go to college that year. Picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins

Assessing candidates has always been an inexact science, even for lawyers. One famous English Queen’s Counsel was asked by his prestigious chambers to chair its recruitment committee. The veteran barrister requested that all of the candidates’ application forms be placed on his desk. When this was done he randomly picked up half of the applications and, without even glancing at them, threw them straight into the bin.

Horrified at the actions of their chairman, the ...