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The above additional languages are, however, based on the ] of their respective languages. | |||
The Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme is an additional option which may be taken along with the other optional subjects. It is a more life-oriented selection. Students intending to apply to third-level institutions often choose to ignore it, however, as it provides a maximum of 70 points (see below). | The Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme is an additional option which may be taken along with the other optional subjects. It is a more life-oriented selection. Students intending to apply to third-level institutions often choose to ignore it, however, as it provides a maximum of 70 points (see below). |
Revision as of 21:27, 23 June 2006
The Leaving Certificate (Irish: An Ardteistiméireacht) (commonly referred to as the Leaving Cert) is the final course in the Irish secondary school system and culminates with the Leaving Certificate Examination. It takes a minimum of two years preparation but an optional Transition Year means that for those students it takes place three years after the Junior Certificate Examination. Most students taking the examination are aged 17-19; in excess of eighty percent of this group undertake the exam, although between socio-economic groups this varies greatly. Examination is overseen by the State Examinations Commission.
Programmes
There are three distinct programmes that can be followed. While the outcomes of each programme are quite distinct, each is intended to reinforce the principals of secondary education; to prepare the student for education, society and work.
- Established Leaving Certificate: The Established Leaving Certificate, introduced in 1924, is the most common programme taken. A minimum of five subjects is presented, including Irish; most students take six or seven subjects. Additionally students will present in English and Mathematics, these have become de facto compulsory subjects, primarily due to college and university admission policies. In recent years a modern European language is often studied by many students as increasingly universities require it.
- Leaving Certificate Applied: The Leaving Certificate Applied, introduced in 1995, is taken to prepare the student for adult and working life. It consists of three elements. These are General Education, Vocational Education and Vocational Preparation. It is designed to place on achievement and excellence which are not catered for by traditional academic programmes.
- Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme: The Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme, introduced in 1989, is similar to the established programme. The student takes at least five traditional subjects, one of which must be Irish. Two of the student's subjects must be part of one of a list of Vocational subject groupings. They must also study a modern European language and two Link Modules, Preparation for the World of Work and Enterprise Education. The programme is designed to help the student find their potential for self-directed learning, innovation and enterprise.
Undergraduate admission
Republic of Ireland
School leavers who want to attend undergraduate courses in Irish colleges and universities have to enter the clearing house run by the Central Applications Office (CAO). Admission is based solely on examination results, usually from the Established Leaving Certificate. Six subjects are scored for the purposes of admission, each grade is translated into "points" - this can vary from 5 to 100 such points depending on the results thus a maximum of 600 can be obtained. Institutions can also set minimum grade requirements in specific examination subjects for each of their courses.
United Kingdom
Traditionally relatively large numbers of Irish students went to university in the United Kingdom, particularly in Northern Ireland and larger British cities - this has tailed off somewhat since the expansion of education in the Republic. Increasingly students from the Republic of Ireland attend university in Northern Ireland, and indeed vice-versa.
In recognition of this the Established Leaving Certificate underwent a process with UCAS to gain entry to the UCAS Tariff for direct entry to United Kingdom universities. This introduced the examination directly onto the UCAS Tariff, allowing it to be compared more easily with other qualifications on the UCAS Tariff. On June 8th, 2004 it was decided that a Leaving Certificate (higher) subject will be worth two-thirds of an A-level (UK).
The University of Dublin, Trinity College was among the first education institution in Ireland to adjust their evaluation of the A-level in line with the report, using it as a benchmark, abeit in reverse to the original intention.
Grading and list of available subjects
Below are the list of subjects available to Established Leaving Certificate students, though most schools only offer a limited number. There are three levels in the Irish exam system Higher (commonly referred to as Honours), Ordinary (commonly referred to as Pass) and Foundation. Foundation level may only be taken in two subjects: Irish and Mathematics. All other subjects may be sat in only Ordinary and Higher levels. Percentage ranges are given on the table to the right, along with the points given for each grade.
Percentage Range | Grade | Points for Higher | Points for Ordinary | |
90 or over | A1 | 100 | 60 | |
85 but less than 90 | A2 | 90 | 50 | |
80 but less than 85 | B1 | 85 | 45 | |
75 but less than 80 | B2 | 80 | 40 | |
70 but less than 75 | B3 | 75 | 35 | |
65 but less than 70 | C1 | 70 | 30 | |
60 but less than 65 | C2 | 65 | 25 | |
55 but less than 60 | C3 | 60 | 20 | |
50 but less than 55 | D1 | 55 | 15 | |
45 but less than 50 | D2 | 50 | 10 | |
40 but less than 45 | D3 | 45 | 5 | |
25 but less than 40 | E | 0 | 0 | |
10 but less than 25 | F | 0 | 0 | |
Less than 10 | NG | 0 | 0 |
- Accounting
- Agricultural Economics†
- Agricultural Science
- Ancient Greek†
- Applied Mathematics
- Arabic
- Art
- Biology
- Business
- Chemistry†
- Classical Studies†
- Construction Studies
- Design and Communication Graphics
- Economics†
- English
- Engineering
- French
- Geography
- German
- Hebrew
- History
- Home Economics
- Irish
- Italian
- Japanese
- Latin†
- Mathematics
- Music
- Physics†
- Physics with Chemistry†
- Portuguese
- Religious Education
- Russian
- Spanish
- Technical Drawing
- Technology
†Subject exclusions - candidates may not take any of following subject combinations:
- Agricultural Economics and Economics
- Classical Studies and Ancient Greek
- Classical Studies and Latin
- Physics with Chemistry and either of the separate subjects, Physics or Chemistry.
Additionally under the Nice Treaty the state is obliged to provide language support for as many official EU languages as they can, and also offers:
- Czech
- Dutch
- Danish
- Estonian
- Finnish
- Greek (Modern)
- Hungarian
- Latvian
- Lithuanian
- Polish
- Portuguese
- Slovakian
- Swedish
The above additional languages are, however, based on the European Baccalaureate of their respective languages.
The Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme is an additional option which may be taken along with the other optional subjects. It is a more life-oriented selection. Students intending to apply to third-level institutions often choose to ignore it, however, as it provides a maximum of 70 points (see below).
Exam Format
Each subject is examined with at least one written paper (English, Mathematics, Irish and some of the optional courses contain two written papers). Some subjects such as Art and Technology involve a practical exam which is supervised by an external examiner. Language courses are examined through both oral and aural-known as 'tape'- methods as well as the written. The oral exams take place some months before the written exams, and the aurals take place in the same weeks as the written. Some subjects such as Chemistry and Agricultural Science involve the keeping of a 'book' by students, or the creation of a project. However not every book or project is examined, with inspectors being sent to a small few randomly selected schools each year, or simply examining a small selection of projects from each class to check the standard.
International Reputation
Only one school outside of Ireland offers the Leaving Certificate exam to their students. Since 1997 students at the ISM international school in Tripoli, Libya take the leaving cert, with the exception of Arabic being substuted for Irish. The School's principal said, "We have students from 42 countries studying at our school, the Irish Leaving Certificate programme offered us the kind of academic standard and subject spread that we were looking for. As a Canadian myself, I consider the Irish secondary education curriculum to be far superior to the Canadian, US or UK models."
References
- ^ Exemption to the Irish language is detailed in Circular M10/94 (Department of Education, Ireland, 1994) and can be acquired under time spent abroad or learning disability
- The Irish Leaving Certificate, Expert Group Report for Awards Seeking Admission to the UCAS Tariff, November 2003 2186 KB PDF file
- BBC News, Northern Ireland, June 10, 2004 Changes to affect NI students
- The Irish Times, May 5, 2005
See also
External links
- State Examination Commission, Ireland
- UCAS - The UCAS Tariff
- CAO Degree & Diploma Points 2005
- Official CAO Level 8 Points 2005
- Official CAO Level 6/7 Points 2005