“Sir, – J Tidmore (Letters, January 19th) raises excellent points with respect to the Leaving Cert. While the circumstances of the past two years forced difficult, and perhaps unfair, compromises, we have surely reached a point where we have sufficient capability to revert to some semblance of normality …” (more)
[Letters, Irish Times, 20 January]
“When the Leaving Cert results and offers of places in colleges were released last September, there was a blizzard of criticism of the points system. This was odd because the problem at the time was caused by inflated grades produced by the school-based assessment system …” (more)
[John McAvoy, Irish Times, 18 January]
“Over the past two years, amendments have been made to the Leaving Certificate due to the disruption the Covid-19 pandemic has caused. In 2020, the exams were completely cancelled and students received accredited grades …” (more)
[Ciara O’Loughlin, Independent, 11 January]
“The Deputy President and Registrar of NUI Galway has said he would be in favour of students sitting traditional Leaving Certificate exams this year. Professor Pól Ó Dochartaigh said he understood the pressures that Leaving Cert students are under and sympathises with them, but said he believes the hybrid system creates inequalities …” (more)
[RTÉ News, 11 January]
“The Leaving Cert is expected to run ‘as normal’ in 2022, with the Department of Education currently considering potentially running oral exams around the Easter break again this academic year …” (more)
[Jess Casey, Irish Examiner, 7 December]
“Many graduate recruits are failing to accomplish ‘simple tasks’ such as writing cogently on a business topic that is free of spelling or grammatical errors, an employers’ group has warned …” (more)
[Carl O’Brien, Irish Times, 30 November]
“Sir, – Once again we appear to be going through the annual hand wringing exercise about the Leaving Cert (Letters, November 17th). This time however it may be preferable to consider the lessons of the pandemic, and avoid a clamour for solutions that increase rather than decrease the level of unfairness we subject second-level students to …” (more)
[Albert Winston, Irish Times, 19 November]
“The Leaving Cert has a ‘pernicious’ impact on the kind of learning and lives we want for our young people, an Oireachtas committee has heard. Prof Anne Looney of Dublin City University (DCU) said that while most teachers use a variety of assessment approaches and group work, these ‘rich and rewarding’ practices get displaced by exam practice, marking schemes and sample answers the closer students get to the Leaving Cert …” (more)
[Carl O’Brien, Irish Times, 16 November]
“The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) is currently undertaking a review of the overall senior cycle curriculum having invited submissions from members of the public. This is not the first time that the senior cycle has been reviewed …” (more)
[Áine Hyland, Irish Times, 16 November]
“Sir, – The Leaving Certificate is being examined by the Oireachtas Committee on Further and Higher Education who have called upon senior academic and management heads to present their views. In their response the Irish Universities Association claimed the 2021 results raised considerable alarm among them with calls to ‘flatten the curve’ …” (more)
[Evelyn Mahon, Irish Times, 11 November]
“Students ‘do not have a strong voice’ when it comes to the Leaving Cert, the Ombudsman for Children is to tell members of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education on Tuesday. In his address to the committee, Dr Niall Muldoon will outline the need to reform the Leaving Cert …” (more)
[Caitlín Griffin, Irish Examiner, 9 November]
“If you’re a student, parent or employer seeking urgent and sweeping changes to the Leaving Cert, then look away now. A major advisory report on proposals to reshape the senior cycle – due to be published by the Minister for Education shortly – advocates the kind of incremental reform that will likely take years to draw up, never mind fully implement …” (more)
[Carl O’Brien, Irish Times, 8 November]
“The Central Applications Office (CAO) points system will need to be revised to reflect a wider range of students’ skills and learning pathways, according to a major report on senior-cycle reform to be published shortly …” (more)
[Carl O’Brien, Irish Times, 8 November]
“Irish language groups and students are seeking maths-style CAO bonus points for the highest-achieving students in Gaeilge as part of a new plan for the subject at Leaving Cert …” (more)
[Katherine Donnelly, Independent, 3 November]
“Sir, – Simon Harris is quoted as saying the Leaving Certificate system ‘does not prepare a student for life beyond education’. He offers specific criticisms of the current system stating that it ‘does not teach students about financial literacy, digital skills, sex education, or climate skills’. This is news to me and, hopefully, my students …” (more)
[Daniel Lynch, Irish Times, 3 November]
“The current Leaving Certificate system ‘does not prepare a student for life beyond education’, Minister for Further and Higher Education Simon Harris will tell an Oireachtas committee on Tuesday …” (more)
[Jade Wilson, Irish Times, 2 November]
“Sir, – Jim Miley, director general of the Irish Universities Association, has described the current timing of Leaving Certificate results as ‘not fit for purpose’, due to the impact on CAO offers (‘Universities call for Leaving Cert results to be given in June’, Education, October 18th). I would suggest that the opposite is closer to reality …” (more)
[Colm O’Connor, Irish Times, 21 October]
“Students should continue to be given a stronger say in their Leaving Cert learning and assessment, according to the representative group for post-primary school principals …” (more)
[Jess Casey, Irish Examiner, 20 October]
“Universities say timelines for the release of Leaving Cert results are ‘no longer fit for purpose’ and want students to be issued their grades at the end of June, followed by college offers in July …” (more)
[Carl O’Brien, Irish Times, 18 October]
“Universities say timelines for the release of Leaving Cert results are ‘no longer fit for purpose’ and want students to be issued their grades at the end of June, followed by college offers in July. The Irish Universities Association – which represents eight of the largest universities – is also calling for an immediate end to ‘distorting’ grade inflation and a return to normal grade patterns …” (more)
[Carl O’Brien, Irish Times, 18 October]
