Over 100 students detected cheating in Leaving Cert exams

Gordon Deegan

A total of 132 students have had their Leaving Certificate and Leaving Certificate Applied results permanently withheld this year because of cheating in this year’s State exams.

New figures provided by the State Examinations Commission (SEC) show that the 132 2025 Leaving Cert results permanently withheld because of cheating are 41, or 24 per cent, down on the 173 Leaving Certificate and Leaving Certificate Applied results withheld in the 2025 Leaving Certificate examinations.

A spokeswoman for the SEC stated today that in addition to the 132 results permanently withheld, the SEC “has provisionally withheld a small number of other results, on a without prejudice basis, pending further communication with the schools and candidates concerned”.

She said that “these figures are subject to change following the conclusion of all review and appeal processes”.

The 132 results withheld this year also compare to 105 results withheld for the 2024 Leaving Cert exams.

The SEC spokeswoman said that for context, a total of 70,105 candidates sat Leaving Certificate and Leaving Certificate Applied examinations in 2026, leading to the issue of over 470,000 individual results.

She said that “the numbers of results withheld fluctuate on an annual basis in the context of very small numbers overall”.

The spokeswoman would not be drawn on whether any of the results have been withheld due to plagiarism brought about by material generated by Artificial Intelligence (AI) software.

She said that due to the small numbers of candidates involved, for privacy reasons, the SEC does not provide any further detail about the 132 cases "including the specifics of the incidents or details of the school or location or the gender of those involved”.

The spokeswoman said that the SEC “would strongly caution any student that might be tempted to cheat in the State examinations that serious consequences can result”.

She said that “candidates are warned that they could lose marks for a component or all the marks for a subject; they could lose the results of their entire examination; or they could be debarred from entering for any of the State examinations for a specified period”.

With the advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI) software, such as ChatGPT, the SEC has provided guidance to school authorities about AI in the completion of coursework.

The spokeswoman said that the instructions make clear that any material generated by AI software will be treated in the same way as any other material that the candidate has not generated themselves.

She said: “Including it without quoting it as the work of AI software will be considered plagiarism, which can result in the forfeit of all marks for the coursework component.”

On the penalties imposed for cheating, the spokeswoman said that “the most common penalty applied is the withholding of the marks of a component or the full result in the subject in question”.

She said: “Where a more serious breach of the regulations occurs such as copying in more than one subject, withholding of all results and/or debarring from repeating the examination may be applied.

The spokeswoman said: “Any incidence of suspected copying, improper assistance from another party, plagiarism or procurement of pieces prepared by another party (which includes the use of AI software), or any other suspected infraction, are thoroughly investigated by the SEC and the candidate is liable to have penalties imposed.”

In the investigation of suspected cheating the SEC spokeswoman said that details of the evidence available, such as superintendent’s reports, confiscated material or items, notes or work prepared that exhibits evidence of collusion, is given to the candidate through their school.

She said: “The candidate is invited to offer a response to the evidence presented and the school authorities are also free to offer comment if they consider it appropriate. The final decision is communicated in writing to the candidate again via their school.”

The spokeswoman said that in the interest of being fair to all candidates, the SEC must be satisfied that marks awarded have been gained fairly and will investigate any suggestion, suspicion or allegation of cheating or other impropriety in relation to the examinations.

She said: “This is essential in order to uphold the integrity of the Irish State examinations system and to underpin equity and fairness within the system in order to enable all candidates to display their achievements on an equal footing.