Thousands of Leaving Cert students around the country should have been opening English Paper One this morning.

While over 60,000 pupils have been spared the stress of the exams due to the COVID-19 outbreak, there are concerns that the system as a whole has left the class of 2020 in an unfair position.

On Newstalk Breakfast this morning, Ciara Fanning, President of the Irish Second Level Students’ Union said the situation has led to increased anxiety for many people.

“There is a sense of relief that people don’t have to put themselves in an unsafe situation in terms of the physical exams, because they weren’t feasible, but it is a complete unknown for the class of 2020,” she said.

“It is kind a build-up to nothing and it is a strange feeling because there is always a certain level of anxiety until the results and CAO offers and that sense closure but that isn’t any different this year.

“If anything, it is heightened because people have individual worries around results. You don’t have that experience of sitting the exams even to gauge your performance and discuss the papers with your friends.

“So, it is a hugely different experience for people and everyone will be waiting for the results and CAO offers, probably more impatiently than usual I would say.”

Students at Belvedere College in Dublin sit the first day of the leaving cert exams, 03-06-2009. Image: Mark Stedman/RollingNews

She defended the calculated grades system that has replaced this year’s exam, insisting that the “real educational merit” lies in the work people have put in over the last two years.

“While they don’t get the big physical exam in June there is not actually much they are missing out on in terms of finishing off their education,” she said.

“Everyone has put the work in throughout the two years anyway and I think there is definitely a relief in the communication and what the calculated results are going to be worth,” she said.

“The way they are going to progress to third level is no different to any other year, so it is definitely is not a huge chunk missing from the education side.”

She said colleges and employers have enough faith in the integrity of the educational system to ensure there will be no stigma attached to the class of 2020.

“Everyone will know that the work they have done is just as important as the work done by other years,” she said.

“Although maybe people are traditionally very tied to the Leaving Cert, I do think we have enough faith in those producing the calculated results and the students who have put the work in to not keep that stigma throughout their life or their educational advancement.”

You can listen back to the full interview here: