A further 17 schools have introduced the Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme this autumn, bringing the total number of participating schools to 497. The LCVP programme requires students to take five Leaving Certificate subjects as well as three link modules - enterprise education, preparation for work and work experience. Two of the five Leaving Certificate subjects must come from a vocational subject grouping. This year, there are 15 such groupings with a new option which includes biology, physics or chemistry (any two). Students must also take Irish and another language.
The link modules are given a composite mark and college applicants may use this in lieu of a sixth subject for points purposes. The institutes of technology recognised the value of the link modules when, in 1996, they awarded 70 points for a distinction, 50 for a merit and 30 for a pass.
Since 1999, the universities and the DIT award 50 points for a distinction, 40 for a merit and 30 for a pass. The final report of the Commission on the Points System noted this anomaly and recommended that the universities consider giving higher points to the link modules as soon as possible. The findings of the commission have yet to be approved and implemented.
