Revealed: How much teachers will earn for marking and supervising this year’s Leaving Cert and Junior Cert exams

In recent years, the State Examinations Commission (SEC) has found the recruitment and retention of teachers for examiner roles challenging.

The issue was exacerbated during the pandemic, when the number of students taking the Leaving Cert increased, but the number of examiners dropped.

In 2019, 3,448 written examiners marked the work of 123,118 candidates, while in 2022, 2,971 written examiners marked the scripts of 129,155 students.

Teachers can apply to be written, oral and practical examiners, while some also choose to take up invigilator roles. The rates paid to oral examiners have nearly trebled in recent years.

A range of additional payments have been introduced to encourage more teachers to correct exams. This includes a recruitment-and-retention incentive fee.

Leaving Cert examiners will receive an additional €900 with this enhancement payment, while Junior Cert examiners will get €700. The public sector pay increase of 3.53pc is also factored in.

According to the SEC, Leaving Cert examiners will this year typically earn between €7,900 and €11,142, depending on the subject and number of scripts marked. Teachers correcting Junior Cert exams will earn between €4,967 and €5,125.

As a result of changes introduced, teachers now get an extra €6 for each script marked at Leaving Cert level and an additional €3 for Junior Cert.

Meanwhile, the rates for oral examiners have substantially increased in the last four years.

Teachers examining Leaving Cert Irish at foundation level receive €20.43 per candidate, compared to €7 in 2019.

The rate of pay for all other oral exams is €27.37 per candidate, up from €9.38 in 2019. These rates include a premium of €11 for conducting the tests at Easter.

Teachers have previously warned that staff and students will face burnout unless all Leaving Cert oral exams return to being held during term-time.

Unions had agreed to the holding of oral examinations at Easter on an exceptional basis during the pandemic, but they now want the exam timetable to return to the pre-pandemic status quo.

Members of the Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland (ASTI) unanimously supported a motion at its annual conference calling for Easter, mid-term break and weekends not to be used for the sitting of State examinations in the interest of student and staff wellbeing.

Unions have welcomed the increase in payments to teachers who apply for examiner roles.

Invigilators, who supervise exams, could receive up to €2,310. They will receive a minimum payment of €992 for a six-day contract, with the majority receiving significantly more than this.

Superintendents receive an initial fee of €330 for collecting a box of exam papers, plus a daily rate of €132. The Leaving Cert exams take place over 15 days, the Leaving Cert Applied lasts seven days and the Junior Cert exams take place over nine days.

The SEC said the increase in payments had the “desired effect” in 2023, with 3,731 examiners appointed, representing a 26pc increase on 2022.

“There are many benefits for teachers in engaging in examining work which include enhancing their teaching; gaining a deeper understanding of the assessment process; increasing professional development and career prospects; as well as the opportunity to earn extra income,” an SEC spokesperson said.

“The SEC is absolutely reliant on, and deeply appreciative of, the co-operation it receives from school leaders, and teachers in the successful administration and assessment of the certificate examinations each year, and this year is no different.”