Staffing cutbacks are being attributed in large part to the unusually high levels of errors in the Leaving and Junior Cert papers this year.
A report by the State Examinations Commission says the mistakes were down to human error due to a large-scale loss of experienced senior staff caused by recent public service reform measures.
The biggest error was in maths and the Commission is taking measures to ensure a mistake of this kind is not repeated again.
Meanwhile,
Around half of all students who applied to the CAO will receive an offer for their first preference course this morning.
Offers have been posted on line since 6 am this morning and almost 50,000 college places have been offered.
Indications are that points for most courses have risen across nearly all institutions – increased demand and the bonus points on offer for maths are blamed for the rise.
