A person who is not a recognised pupil of a post-primary school may be admitted to the Leaving Certificate examinations as a External Candidate in one or more subjects on payment of the appropriate Fee (Fees for 2013 not yet available) provided that :-
there is a period of at least two years between the candidate's completion of Transition Year or the Junior Cycle, whichever is the later, and the sitting of the Leaving Certificate examination.
or
in the case of a candidate who has not been a recognised Junior pupil, or a Transition Year pupil, the candidate will have attained the age of 17 years on or before 31 July of the year of examination.
Conditions (a) and (b) above are designed to ensure that a person who has left school will not be in a position to sit the Leaving Certificate examination earlier than if he/she had remained at school. The Commission will not accept entries from persons for the Leaving Certificate examination in the year after their Junior Certificate examination or in the year after they have completed Transition Year.
Times and Dates
Written examinations will be held in the period of 5th June, 2013 to 21st June, 2013.
How to Enter
On-Line
The on-line application facility will be available from mid December 2012.
Entries Section,
State Examinations Commission,
Cornamaddy,
Athlone,
Co. Westmeath.
Closing Date
The closing date for receipt of completed application forms for entry to the 2013 examination is 5.00 PM on Thursday 31st January 2013. Entries can be accepted after that date but they will be subject to late fees.
Locations
A list of approved examination centres is available from Entries Section in the State Examinations Commission.
Reasonable Accommodations
The State Examinations Commission operates a Scheme of Reasonable Accommodations for candidates with special
needs at the state examinations. For further details on the scheme of reasonable accommodations and how to apply
click here.
The range of accommodations for the examinations has also been extended to include provision for the use of bilingual translation dictionaries by candidates whose first language is not English or Irish.
Anyone who is considering entering for the examination as an external candidate should read the Memorandum of Instructions. This document is available to download here in PDF format.
Contacts
For all enquiries regarding entry as an External Candidate, please contact:
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