How to appeal a Leaving Cert result

If you’re feeling disappointed after receiving your Leaving Cert results, try not to worry. There are steps that you can take in this situation. If you are not happy with your exam results and feel that they do not reflect your work or ability, you can arrange to appeal your grade.

You can apply to appeal written examination results through the candidate portal. The exact dates to appeal results have not been confirmed yet, but they are normally in September.

How to appeal a Leaving Cert exam result

Firstly, you can arrange to view the exam papers in one or more subjects at your school. When you get your Leaving Cert results, you will also receive an application form that shows all the subjects you have taken, which will allow you to select what papers you want to view.

There is no fee for viewing your papers.

Filling out the form

You can only apply to view your scripts online through the Candidate Self Service Portal. Your username and password are required to log in. You receive these when you register on the portal.

You will then be contacted through email by the Organising Superintendent appointed to your school and assigned one of three viewing times to review your script. It is not possible to arrange viewing of scripts on any other date or time.

If you do not receive an email confirming a viewing appointment before the viewing sessions start, you should contact the Organising Superintendent in the school where you sat your written examinations.

Viewing the paper

You can bring one person with you to the viewing. This can include a teacher or parent. The viewing will be at the exam centre where you took your exams (usually your school).

Having a teacher there can be helpful because they will understand the marking system, and will hopefully be able to give an honest answer as to whether your marks were fair or not.

Make sure to check the marks have all been added up correctly, and that the mark you received for each question reflects that marking structure for the paper.

Having the script reviewed

Your appealed script will be sent to an examiner to re-mark. This examiner will be different from the person who originally marked your script. However, the same marking system will be used. It is possible to view the new marks after the paper has been rechecked. Remember that an appeal aims to ensure that your work has been marked fairly – your result may stay the same or be upgraded or downgraded after an appeal.

When will I know the result of a Leaving Cert appeal?

The results of the Leaving Cert appeal should be available by the end of September. This means that the college year may have started by the time you receive the results of your appeal. There is a chance your first choice of course could offer you a place after your receive your new results, but it may also be full at that stage. If you are successful and receive a place on your desired course, you will likely have only missed the first one to two weeks of the course.

You may also be able to defer for a year, meaning the college will hold your place on the course until the following year.

Talk to the college you’re hoping to get into to find out more about your options.

What can I do if I’m still not happy with my result?

If you are still not happy with your results, you can further appeal by requesting an appeal review by the Independent Appeals Scrutineers. Forms for this process are provided with your appeal results.

Need more information?

We are here to answer your questions and talk through your options. Our online chat service is for 16 to 25 year olds and is available Monday to Friday, 4pm to 8pm. Chat to us now about your situation.

• Chat now to a trained Youth Information Officer
• Or leave us a message and we will email you back