The Supreme Court has ruled that the exclusion of two home-schooled students from the Leaving Certificate calculated grades process in 2020 was an impermissible interference with the constitutional freedom of the family to provide education in the home.

The cases involved two home-school students who were excluded from the scheme but were subsequently awarded grades after winning their High Court case.

The State had appealed the cases to the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court for clarification of certain legal points.

18-year-old Elijah Burke from Co Mayo was home-schooled by his mother, Martina – a registered teacher, but she was deemed to have a conflict of interest in providing estimated marks for the calculated grades process.

The second case involved a 17-year-old girl who was home-schooled mainly by her mother, with assistance from her father and private tutors – none of whom were registered teachers.

In its ruling, the Supreme Court held the Calculated Grades Scheme (CGS) was clearly an exercise of the executive power of the State. The court held there was “an undoubted interference” in the constitutional rights of the students and the justification offered by the department was insufficient.