A BUNCH of Leaving Cert students were left in floods of tears after having to sit their oral exam at an hour's notice.

Pupils in Coolmine Community School in Clonsilla, Dublin, were in hysterics after being told their Spanish exam was brought forward a day.

2 Leaving Cert students in Coolmine Community School were very distressed at having to sit their Spanish oral exam early

The students had been informed months in advance that the test would take place this past Tuesday.

However, the teens were sent into a panic when they found out on Monday they would be early.

A distraught student told the Irish Sun that a teacher was left to inform them just before their lunch break that they would be required to sit their test that afternoon.

The pupil said: "Before lunch a teacher said, 'your oral is after lunch, it's been changed by the Department, sorry'. Loads of us were left to take the test at an hour's notice.

"It was devastating. Everyone was bawling crying and panicking. It is completely unfair."

The student added they were told that a change of date is eligible in the fine print but that it has never happened before in the school.

The Leaving Cert Spanish test is made up of three segments: an oral, an aural, and a written exam. The oral test results accounts for 25 per cent of the students' overall grade.



'Unacceptable' circumstances

Teacher and Studyclix.ie founder, Luke Saunders, said the circumstances students faced were unacceptable.

The study expert said: "Typically a student would have at least a week's notice about when their oral is going to take place.

"And for a lot of students, because this is their first part of the Leaving Cert, it can be the part they get most nervous about.

"The idea that this was sprung upon students on the day would have made an already stressful situation even more so, and I don't think that this is acceptable.

"I am not a language teacher, but I have never heard of a repeat oral exam. I presume there is a complaints process within the State Exams Commission that would allow for raising this, however, I don't think the students would get any special compensation.

MOST READ IN NEWS BIG WIN One winner of €5,395,798 Lotto jackpot as lucky numbers revealed 'DIED ALONE' Missing boy, 14, found dead after search volunteers banned over Covid curfew TOTAL RECALL Argos recalls highchairs over fears back could fail causing kids to fall crash arrest Joshua Allen arrested for ‘driving intoxicated’ after crashing new Range Rover COVID PLAN NPHET rule out herd immunity saying 'apartheid' of older people unacceptable COV-ER & OUT Lockdown-free Sweden 'on brink of BEATING Covid after achieving herd immunity'

"If anything, it might help prevent it from happening again in the future. But, I don't think it is very fair on these students.

According to a State Examinations Commission (SEC) curricular sent to second-level schools, students should have been made aware that they may not necessarily be examined on a set day.

The school said there was no one available for comment when contacted by the Irish Sun.