Guidelines for Leaving Certificate Exams 2021

Best wishes to all candidates sitting the Leaving Cert 2021

Guidelines for students for sitting Leaving Certificate 2021

1. Each candidate must wear their full school uniform.
2. If you are not sitting an exam which you have signed up for, then you / a parent or a guardian must inform the school with a phone call that morning.
3. Each candidate must produce an I.D. Card on the 1^st morning and this I.D. must match the name on the attendance roll.
4. It is each candidate's own responsibility to note carefully the days and hours, as fixed on the timetable, for the examinations in the subjects in which the candidate intends to present himself/herself. Candidates are required to be in attendance at the examination hall at least half an hour before the examination commences in the subject in which they first present themselves. On subsequent days they are required to be in attendance at least fifteen minutes before the hour stated in the timetable. Candidates will be responsible for making their own arrangements to ensure timely attendance at the examination hall. External candidates must sign an attendance roll (Form E10A) at the start of each examination. The signature on this roll must agree with and appear in the same format as that on the candidate's I.D. Card.No candidate will be admitted to the examination in any paper after thirty minutes of the time for that paper have elapsed.
5. No candidate may be authorised to leave the examination hall until the expiration of thirty minutes from the time at which the examination began.
6. A candidate may not be permitted to leave the hall and return during the examination period unless the Superintendent is satisfied that the candidate's need to leave the hall is genuine, (e.g., because of illness, urgent need to visit the toilet, etc.). A candidate who leaves the hall during any period of examination shall not be re-admitted during that period unless the candidate has been in the care of a representative of the school authority or, failing that, in the care of the Attendant during the entire period of the absence. The candidate must hand the answer book and question paper to the Superintendent on leaving the hall; the Superintendent should record on the cover of the answer book the time of departure from and return to the hall and the reason for the absence; the time lost by the candidate may not be compensated for at the close of the examination period. Particulars of any such occurrence should be reported on the appropriate Advice List.
7. A candidate who leaves the examination hall before the expiration of any period of examination must surrender his/her examination paper and answer book to the Superintendent.
8. A candidate must occupy during the entire examination the place first assigned to him/her by the Superintendent unless otherwise directed by the Superintendent.
9. A candidate should raise his/her hand if he/she wishes to attract the attention of the Superintendent during the examination. It is the candidate's responsibility to ensure that they bring to the attention of the Superintendent if he/she has not been provided with the level of the examination paper at each examination that he/she is due to take.
10. No candidate shall write his/her name on any answer book or other paper supplied. The candidate's number should be entered on every envelope, answer book, map, drawing, or sheet of square paper used. Candidates should not commence writing until instructed to do so by the Superintendent.
11. A candidate must enter on the envelopes and answer books used by him/her the particulars required as to subject, etc.
12. Any additional answer book, squared paper, etc. issued to a candidate, whether used or unused, should be attached to his/her answer book before it is sealed with the treasury tag provided for that purpose. Candidates will be supplied with Mathematics Tables by the Superintendent. They may not bring their own Mathematical Tables into the Examination Hall.
13. A candidate shall not bring into the examination hall, or have in his/her possession or under his/her control or within his/her reach, whilst he/she is in such room: -

1. Any book or paper (save his/her I.D. card, where such is required, the examination paper, and such answer books, etc., as shall have been supplied to him/her by the Superintendent); or
2. Any memorandum, notes or mobile phone, electronic address book, data bank, etc, except a calculator as permitted under the regulations.

14. In the case of Art examinations of a practical nature (i.e., drawing, craftwork), candidates are permitted to bring such materials into the examination hall as may be notified to schools by the Commission.

1. A candidate shall not, while in the examination hall
1. Use, or attempt to use, any book, memorandum, notes or paper (save the examination paper and such answer books, etc., as shall have been supplied to him/her by the Superintendent); or
2. Aid, or attempt to aid, another candidate; or
3. Obtain, or attempt to obtain, aid from another candidate, or Superintendent; or
4. Communicate, or attempt to communicate, in any way, with another candidate within the centre or by electronic means with a person outside the centre.

1. A candidate
1. Shall not write on the examination paper (except where answers are to be written on part of the examination paper itself e.g., in Mathematics) or I.D. card or Mathematics Tables or on any of the mathematical instruments brought with him/her; except where a candidate uses a highlighter pen or underlining as an aid to interpreting the question paper.
2. Shall not write in his/her answer book anything that is not directly connected with the subject matter of the questions to be answered,
3. Shall not remove from the answer books any leaf or part of a leaf,
4. Shall not take out, or attempt to take out, of the examination hall, any answer books, whether used or unused,
5. Shall not damage the examination hall or its furniture.
2. A candidate who has finished his/her work at least ten minutes before the time appointed for the conclusion of the examination may be permitted to leave the hall on handing up to the Superintendent:
1. His/her answer book(s) and
2. The examination paper.
3. A candidate who completes his/her work during the last ten minutes of the examination should remain in his/her seat until the Superintendent has collected his/her answer book(s) and he/she should not then leave the hall until the time appointed for the conclusion of the examination unless permitted to do so by the Superintendent.
4. At the conclusion of the examination each candidate who has not already done so should immediately seal his/her answer book(s) or envelope and remain in his/her seat until the Superintendent has collected the answer book(s).
5. A candidate shall, in all matters relative to the examination, submit to, and obey, the directions of the Superintendent.
6. In those subjects in which there is more than one paper, a candidate must take all the papers in a subject from one level, e.g., all papers at Ordinary Level or all at Higher Level. He/she may not be supplied with, or allowed to see, the papers in more than one level in the same subject.
7. Each candidate presenting himself/herself for examination in Construction Studies, Design and Communication Graphics and Technology, Engineering, Materials Technology (Wood) or in Technical Graphics is required to bring with him/her a drawing board, T-square, scales, set squares, protractor, compass, pencil, eraser and drawing clips or tape. Candidates may use mathematical drawing instruments for all examinations. The use of science stencils is permitted for the examinations in the Science subjects. The use of string, thread, a magnifying glass and an opisometer is permitted for the examination in Geography. The use of calculators is allowed in all examinations, subject to the following:
1. Neither the Department of Education and Science nor the State Examinations Commission will supply calculators to candidates. Examination centres will not be responsible for the provision of calculators or batteries.
2. The proper working condition of the calculator is the responsibility of the candidate. No allowance will be made for battery or other calculator failure during the examination.
3. Calculators must be silent and must not require the use of mains electricity supply.
4. Calculators may not be borrowed from other candidates during the examination.
5. Programmable calculators are prohibited. The term “programmable” includes any calculator that is capable of storing a sequence of keystrokes that can be retrieved after the calculator is turned off or powers itself off. Note that the capacity to recall, edit and replay previously executed calculations does not render a calculator programmable, provided that this replay memory is automatically cleared when the calculator is powered off. Also, the facility to store numbers in one or more memory locations does not render a calculator programmable.
6. Calculators with any of the following mathematical features are prohibited:

1. graph plotting
2. equation solving
3. symbolic algebraic manipulation
4. numerical integration
5. numerical differentiation
6. matrix calculations

1. Calculators with any of the following general features are prohibited:

1. data banks
2. dictionaries
3. language translators
4. text retrieval
5. capability of remote communication

1. Candidates must indicate on their answer books the make and model of any calculator(s) used in the examination.
2. Candidates are not allowed to take an instruction manual into the examination hall. This includes instructions printed on the cover of the calculator. Any instructions printed on a casing that cannot be removed from the calculator must be securely covered.
3. Candidates may not turn on their calculators until the examination begins.

This rule does not allow a candidate to bring into the examination centre any device that would be otherwise prohibited. In particular, mobile phones, electronic organisers or similar devices are not permitted under any circumstances.

1. A candidate may be expelled from the examination hall if his/her behaviour is such as to jeopardise the successful conduct of the examination. Submission of material of a pornographic nature or any other offensive material or the inclusion of any cash/cheque in the script may result in the examination in all subjects being disallowed.
2. Where the Commission is of the opinion that any candidate has violated any of these Rules, has attempted to obtain an examination result to which the candidate is not entitled, or has uttered or attempted to utter such a result or has furnished incorrect information in relation to his/her candidature, such candidate shall be liable to be deprived of the examination or of marks, or to have such deduction made as the Commission may think fit from any sum payable in respect of any grant or scholarship obtained by the candidate, according to the opinion which the Commission may form of the gravity of the offence; and the Commission may, if the Commission thinks fit, publish the candidate's name and address, as given in the notice of intention to present for examination, as those of a candidate who has been so deprived and the Commission may, according to the opinion of the Commission as to the gravity of the offence, debar the candidate from entering for any of the examinations run by the State Examinations Commission for such period as the Commission may determine.

Best wishes to all candidates sitting the Leaving Cert 2021