The State Examinations Commission () is the organisation that replaced the Examinations Branch of the
Department of Education
An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...
in
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
.
History
The State Examinations Commission is a State body established by statutory order on 6 March 2003.
The Commission assumed responsibility for the operation of the State Certificate Examinations from the Department of Education.
The State Examinations Commission has an online system which allows examination candidates to view their results on its website.
Organisation
The commission is staffed by civil servants and there are five Commissioners appointed by the Minister for Education.
Functions
The commission oversees the state examinations at
secondary education
Secondary education is the education level following primary education and preceding tertiary education.
Level 2 or ''lower secondary education'' (less commonly ''junior secondary education'') is considered the second and final phase of basic e ...
level in Ireland. Its offices are located in
Athlone
Athlone (; ) is a town on the border of County Roscommon and County Westmeath, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located on the River Shannon near the southern shore of Lough Ree. It is the second most populous town in the Midland Region, Ir ...
,
County Westmeath
County Westmeath (; or simply ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It formed part of the historic Kingdom of ...
. The two examinations the commission oversees for accreditation and certification are:
*
Junior Cycle
The Junior Cycle () is the first stage of the education programme for post-primary education within the Republic of Ireland. It is overseen by the Department of Education (Ireland), Department of Education and the National Council for Curriculu ...
*
Leaving Certificate
A secondary school leaving qualification is a document signifying that the holder has fulfilled any secondary education requirements of their locality, often including the passage of a final qualification examination.
For each leaving certificate ...
Typically about 60,000 students present for each of these examinations each year, generally commencing on the first Wednesday of June. The commission holds the results of public examinations carried out by the ''Intermediate Education Board for Ireland'' (1879-1924), these include the ''Junior Grade'', ''Middle Grade'' and ''Senior Grade''. A list of the department's former examinations include:
See also
*
Education in the Republic of Ireland
Education in the Republic of Ireland is a primary, secondary and higher (often known as "third-level" or tertiary) education. In recent years, further education has grown immensely, with 51% of working age adults having completed higher edu ...
References
External links
State Examinations Commission
{{Authority control
Department of Education and Youth
Educational organisations based in Ireland
Organisations based in Athlone
Secondary education in Ireland