More than 73,000 students will receive the results of their Junior Cycle examinations today.
Numbers sitting the exam are very slightly up on last year and this is the third year in a row that more than 70,000 candidates sat the exams.
Changes to Junior Cycle grade bands have led to a more than doubling of the rate of Distinctions awarded. 8.6% of grades are Distinctions this year, compared to 3.6% last year.
The marks required to achieve a Distinction were broadened from any score at or above 90%, to any score at or above 85%. The second highest grade band, Higher Merit, was also changed, from 75% - 90% to 70%-85%.
The alterations were made following complaints that the previous grade bands - and the difficulty in achieving the top grades - was having a negative impact on student learning.
Commenting on the changes the State Examinations Commission said: "Feedback about the impact that the previous grade bands may have been having on the teaching and learning experience.... came from many stakeholders, including teachers and school leaders, as well as those taking examinations, their parents and guardians."
Marks altered over English short story
Marks awarded to students who sat the Junior Cycle English paper were altered this year to compensate for an issue that came to light during and after the examination.
The State Examinations Commission has said that it received feedback, both at the time of the exam and after it, that many schools had not taught students the short story.
The SEC has pointed out that study of the short story is mandatory for Junior Cycle.
The English exam, like all other Junior Cycle examinations, are no-choice papers, which require candidates to answer all questions. So students who had not studied the short story could not avoid the topic in the examination paper.
The SEC has said that an analysis of student responses "showed that a significant number of candidates answered this question poorly or omitted it entirely".
"In order to be as fair as possible to candidates" the SEC said that all candidates were awarded a minimum of 10 marks out of 15, "with a scaled marking approach used to award higher marks based on the standard of the candidate response".
"This approach has ensured fairness to those candidates who answered the question, while ensuring that those candidates who did not respond to the question are not disadvantaged," it continued.
The results will be distributed to students at their schools later today.
The examination results are combined with outcomes from other areas of learning, such as Classroom Based Assessments, to become the Junior Cycle Profile of Achievement (JCPA).
The JCPA replaces the old Junior 'Certificate', which is no longer issued by the SEC.
