Courts / Kildare / Report
Original grades process would not have discriminated against disadvantaged schools, High Court told
Summary
In a High Court hearing, counsel for Freddie Sherry argued that the 2020 Leaving Certificate standardisation process would not have discriminated against students from disadvantaged schools, even if historical school performance data had been used. He compared the Irish system to those in England and Scotland, noting that the latter had faced criticism for disproportionately downgrading students from poorer areas. The counsel highlighted that Irish authorities had incorporated safeguards to prevent such bias and that the Minister had decided in August 2020 to exclude historical data from the calculation, despite assurances that this would not harm disadvantaged students. Sherry, a fee‑paying student from Belvedere College, claimed the removal of school data led to a 55‑point downgrade, affecting his CAO points and his application to Trinity College Dublin's Pharmacy programme. The Minister and the State denied any unlawful interference, asserting that the process was fair and that Sherry was treated like all other students.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: Original grades process would not have discriminated against disadvantaged schools, High Court told. Procedural stage: hearing_or_decision
When:
- August 21st Incident
- 2020-12-10 Publication
Why: This was because many students from disadvantaged areas in the UK had saw their grades being disproportionately downgraded, compared to students from affluent areas or those who attended fee-paying schools. CNI source report
Places mentioned
Topics
Related court reports
- Woman subjected to extreme harassment by garda says complaint to ombudsman was 'met with silence'
- Horror crash driver who walked away while friend lay dead in passenger seat gets 6.5 years
- Horror crash driver walked away while friend lay dead in passenger seat, court hears
- Three years jail for smashing pint glass into victim's face in nightclub assault
- Woman with 182 previous convictions has two thirds of theft sentence suspended on appeal
- 'Ambush' and 'sham' allegations in multi-million dollar investment case
If a fact, identity, locality or legal outcome needs review, email the newsroom with this report's details prefilled.
Email a correction request