Schools to get details of ‘radically different’ Leaving Cert exam

Schools are due to receive details of significant changes to the Leaving Cert exams early next week with candidates to be given more choices and fewer questions to answer in an attempt to ease pressure on students.

It follows a decision by Minister for Education Norma Foley on Tuesday to rule out a hybrid approach of exams and accredited grades this year.

Instead, she said the structure of the Leaving Cert exam will be “tailor-made” in recognition of the challenges faced by students due to Covid-19 disruption.

“The exams will be structured in a familiar way, but with more choice and a reduction in the number of questions to be answered. This will not be the traditional Leaving Certificate exam,” she said.

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“For example, in maths students would have 10 questions to answer, now they will have six . . . I want to make clear that the alterations on the exams extend beyond the papers, they extend into the oral, the practical and coursework,” the Minister added.

The level of choice and number of questions will be similar to last year’s written exams, which were also adjusted to take into account school closures and disrupted learning.

Significantly, she confirmed that the overall set of results this year will be “no lower” than last year’s record-breaking set. This means that this year’s class will not be disadvantaged in the college applications points race when competing against the class of 2021.

For example, students’ grades last year were on average about 60 CAO points higher than pre-pandemic levels. This pattern will be repeated this year.

Government officials said students’ average grades may be increased by applying a “post-marking intervention”, if necessary.

Ms Foley said the decision not to proceed with a hybrid exam was made on the basis that there was no "fair" way of standardising teachers' estimated grades due to the absence of Junior Cycle exam data for many Leaving Cert candidates.

This information, she said, was vital to ensursing there is comparability in estimated grades issued by schools.

“This year 25 per cent – or one in four students – do not have that data. So we would not be in a position to provide for the accredited grades in a system that would be as fair as was provided for last year,” she said.

Assessments in class

Ms Foley also confirmed that the Junior Cycle exams are to proceed for the first time since 2019. Changes to these include a reduction in the number of classroom based assessments to be completed, removal of the requirement to complete assessment tasks and adjustments to the requirements in coursework and practical performance tests. These adjustments provide for more teaching time in schools, she said.

The Minister said an alternative set of Leaving Cert exams would also operate this year, limited to certain students such as those who experienced a close family bereavement, Covid-19 illness and certain categories of serious illness, during the first exam period in June.

Defending the decision to rule out a hybrid approach this year, Ms Foley said she was not aware of any EU jurisdiction that was contemplating a move towards calculated or accredited grades.

“This time last year when we made this decision our schools were closed, and schools did not reopen until mid-March, and we didn’t have vaccination. We have student cohorts now who are back in school and have been in school, and from September we have students who were vaccinated.”