A student who won her case against the State Examinations Commission over its appeals process says she's overwhelmed and relieved.
19-year-old Rebecca Carter had argued that an easily rectifiable "totting error" in her business paper meant she was awarded a lower grade than she was entitled to.
The High Court ruled today that the SEC must determine the outcome of Ms Carter's Leaving Cert appeal by this Friday instead of mid-October.
She must also be offered any place in Veterinary medicine by 5pm on Friday.
This will allow her to register with UCD before the deadline of September 30th, which the original appeal timeline of mid-October would have prevented her from doing.
Mr Justice Richard Humphreys today said that this situation should not repeat itself next year, and that any appeals system which doesn't notify a student of the outcome until a month and a half later is manifestly unfit for purpose.
He noted that the ordeal had caused untold stress to Ms Carter and recommended that, in future, appeals should be completed by the start of the academic year.
Rebecca gave her reaction to the ruling outside court.
She said: "I'm just overwhelmed - I'm delighted for myself, and I'm relieved for myself.
"I'm also delighted for all the other students in the coming years, because they won't have to go through what I've gone through."
She added: "Luckily, from now on all the appeals will be finalised before the academic year starts."
