Education (Leaving Certificate 2021) (Accredited Grades) Act 2021

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Citation: IR No. 8/2021
• Year: 2021

Number 8 of 2021
EDUCATION (LEAVING CERTIFICATE 2021) (ACCREDITED GRADES) ACT 2021
CONTENTS
1. Definitions
2. System of accredited grades
3. Indemnity for certain persons
4. Prohibition on certain communications
5. Provision of false information
6. Functions conferred on Commission relating to system of accredited grades
7. Regulations in relation to system of accredited grades
8. Designation of persons as tutors
9. Issue of certificate of final results of Leaving Certificate Examination for the year 2020
10. Data protection
11. Laying of regulations and orders
12. Expenses
13. Short title and commencement
SCHEDULE
Languages specified as subjects for purposes of paragraph (c) of definiton of “tutor” in section 1
Acts Referred to
Education Act 1998 (No. 51)
Teaching Council Act 2001 (No. 8)
Number 8 of 2021
EDUCATION (LEAVING CERTIFICATE 2021) (ACCREDITED GRADES) ACT 2021
An Act to make provision, due to the exigencies of the public health emergency posed by the spread of the disease known as Covid-19, for a system of accredited grades for the purposes of the Leaving Certificate 2021; for that purpose to provide for the indemnification of certain persons in respect of the provision of estimated marks; to prohibit certain communications with teachers, tutors, principals and other persons who perform any function in relation to the provision of estimated marks; to provide for the withholding of accredited grades where false or misleading information is provided; to confer on the State Examinations Commission certain functions in relation to the system of accredited grades; to provide for the designation of certain persons as tutors; to provide for the issue of certificates in respect of the final results awarded for the Leaving Certificate Examination for the year 2020; and to provide for related matters.
[25th May, 2021]
Be it enacted by the Oireachtas as follows:
		Definitions
1. In this Act—
	“Act of 1998” means the Education Act 1998 ;
	“accredited grade” has the meaning given to it by section 2 ;
	“board of management”, in relation to a recognised school, means a board of management established under section 14 of the Act of 1998;
	“candidate” has the same meaning as in Part VIII of the Act of 1998;
	“centre for education” has the same meaning as in the Act of 1998;
	“Commission” means the State Examinations Commission established under the State Examinations Commission (Establishment) Order 2003 ( S.I. No. 373 of 2003 );
	“estimated mark” has the meaning given to it by section 2 ;
	“Junior Certificate Examination” means the examination of that name referred to in Schedule 2 to the Act of 1998;
	“Leaving Certificate 2021” means the award to be made to a candidate in respect of—
	(a) either or both of the following:
	(i) the Leaving Certificate Examination that is due to take place in 2021;
	(ii) accredited grades,
	or
	(b) accredited grades, where the Leaving Certificate Examination that is due to take place in 2021 does not take place;
	“Leaving Certificate Examination” means the examination of that name referred to in Schedule 2 to the Act of 1998;
	“Minister” means the Minister for Education;
	“patron” has the same meaning as in the Act of 1998;
	“prescribed” means prescribed by regulations made by the Minister under section 7 ;
	“principal” means—
	(a) a Principal within the meaning of the Act of 1998, or
	(b) a person (other than a Principal referred to in paragraph (a)) who has responsibility for the day to day management and direction of teachers or tutors, as the case may be;
	“process of standardisation” has the meaning given to it by section 2 ;
	“recognised school” has the same meaning as in the Act of 1998;
	“registered teacher” has the same meaning as in the Teaching Council Act 2001 ;
	“subject” means a subject comprised in the Leaving Certificate Examination (including the subjects specified in the Schedule );
	“system of accredited grades” shall be construed in accordance with section 2 ;
	“teacher” means a person who—
	(a) is a registered teacher, or
	(b) is employed in the place of a registered teacher in a recognised school pursuant to section 24 of the Act of 1998;
	“tutor” means a person who is not a teacher but who—
	(a) is teaching in a centre for education,
	(b) is teaching in a place where the Leaving Certificate Examination is due to take place in 2021,
	(c) is providing an estimated mark for a subject specified in the Schedule , or
	(d) is designated as a tutor by the Minister by order made under section 8 .
		System of accredited grades
2. (1) Without prejudice to section 50(2) of the Act of 1998 and the Leaving Certificate Examination that is due to take place in 2021, the Minister, having consulted with, and having regard to the advice of, the Commission, may determine that a system of accredited grades may be used for the purposes of the Leaving Certificate 2021.
	(2) A determination under subsection (1) may provide that the system of accredited grades includes, but is not limited to, the following:
	(a) a process of estimation by teachers and tutors of what a candidate is, or would be, expected to achieve, for a subject, in the Leaving Certificate Examination that is due to take place in 2021 (whether or not such examination takes place), by which process a mark, expressed as a percentage, is provided for such subject (in this Act referred to as an “estimated mark”);
	(b) reliance on the exercise of professional judgement by teachers and tutors for the purposes of the process of estimation referred to in paragraph (a);
	(c) the application of processes, with oversight by the principal, which shall seek to ensure that, within each individual recognised school, centre for education or other place where the Leaving Certificate Examination is due to take place in 2021, teachers or tutors, as the case may be, are applying appropriate and consistent standards when providing estimated marks for a particular subject;
	(d) in accordance with such policy directions as the Minister may give from time to time, a process of adjustment, based on statistical analysis, to be applied to estimated marks (in this Act referred to as a “process of standardisation”) which shall—
	(i) be carried out at national level, by or on behalf of the Commission,
	(ii) take account of such data, including but not limited to data relating to the Junior Certificate Examinations and Leaving Certificate Examinations in preceding years, as the Commission considers necessary and appropriate, and
	(iii) have as its objective that accredited grades awarded to candidates are of a standard of achievement that is consistent when compared as between all recognised schools, centres for education and other places where the Leaving Certificate Examination is due to take place in 2021 (taken as a whole);
	(e) following the completion of the process of standardisation, the generation of the mark, expressed as a percentage, achieved by a candidate for a subject, which determines the award to be made to the candidate for such subject (in this Act referred to as an “accredited grade”);
	(f) where a candidate has chosen, in respect of any subject, to receive an accredited grade and to participate in the Leaving Certificate Examination that is due to take place in 2021 and has sat the examination in that subject, the award to the candidate of the result achieved, whether the accredited grade or the result of that examination, whichever is more advantageous to that candidate;
	(g) provision for the following appeals to the Commission:
	(i) where no estimated mark is provided for a subject as referred to in subsection (3);
	(ii) in respect of an accredited grade as referred to in subsection (4);
	(iii) where the Commission decides to withhold all or any accredited grades under section 4 or 5 , as the case may be.
	(3) A candidate may, in accordance with such procedures as may be determined by the Commission in the performance of its functions under section 6 , appeal to the Commission where no estimated mark is provided, in respect of such candidate, for a subject.
	(4) (a) A candidate may seek a review in respect of an accredited grade by way of appeal to the Commission, in accordance with such procedures as may be determined by the Commission in the performance of its functions under section 6 .
	(b) A review referred to in paragraph (a) shall be limited to establishing whether any error has occurred in respect of the transmission to, or receipt by, the Commission of the estimated mark for the subject concerned.
		Indemnity for certain persons
3. (1) Without prejudice to any other enactment which provides for indemnification, a teacher, tutor, principal, board of management, education and training board, patron or any other person who performs a function in relation to the provision of estimated marks (in this section referred to as a “relevant person”) shall, in the manner and to the extent and subject to the terms and conditions that the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, may from time to time determine, be indemnified by the State against all actions or claims, however they arise, in respect of the performance by such relevant person of such function, where the Minister is satisfied that the relevant person has performed the function in good faith.
	(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), terms and conditions referred to in that subsection may include, but are not limited to, the following:
	(a) the exclusion of any unnecessary or unreasonable legal expenses incurred by the relevant person to be indemnified;
	(b) the exclusion of any damage arising from such relevant...