Human error was the cause of the mistake on the higher level maths paper taken by around 15,000 Leaving Certificate students this summer.

Following an investigation by the States Examination Commission (SEC) it said today that staff issues together with operational demands associated with preparing exam papers led to the error on the Higher Level 2 paper.

The trigonometry question caused distress to students but they were not penalised and the Commission is taking measures to ensure a mistake of this kind is not repeated again.

It has published a report on the incidents which blames Departmental cutbacks for the errors. It also says the introduction of the Project Maths syllabus also contributed.

A number of the errors were spotted in Maths papers as follows:

• Leaving Certificate Mathematics, Higher Level, Paper 2; (Phase 2 and Phase 3)
• Leaving Certificate Mathematics, Ordinary Level – Paper 1 (Phase 3)
• Junior Certificate Mathematics – Higher Level Paper 1 (Phase 3)

The report also says that errors occurred in a number of other exams, including Junior Certificate CSPE, Junior Certificate Science and Leaving Certificate Irish.

"The SEC deeply regrets all of the errors in the 2013 papers and apologises to the candidates affected. Specific measures have been implemented in the marking process by the SEC so that candidates have not been disadvantaged as a result of these errors" the SEC said.

It adds that "the level of error in the 2013 examination papers was unacceptably high" but that "the remaining errors were minor and had little or no impact on candidate answering".

It concludes that the particular set of circumstances which applied to 2013 "is unlikely to be repeated in that the extent of unplanned staff change should not re-occur and the roll-out of Project Maths is stabilising with a reducing number of examination papers required as full implementation takes place at Leaving Certificate in 2014 and Junior Certificate in 2015".

But it also cautions that further retirements and staff changes are expected over the coming years and that restrictions on public service recruitment and employment will continue for the foreseeable future.

It recommends that the SEC takes a more formalised approach to strategic work-force planning to include an assessment of the risks associated with the loss of subject-specific examination expertise.

Richard Langford from the SEC says the incidents were regrettable.