Senior Cycle
Adjustments to Leaving Certificate 2024
On the 24th of May, Minister for Education Norma Foley confirmed that, as for 2023, adjustments will be made to the assessment arrangements for students due to sit State examinations in 2024.
These will be the same as the assessment adjustments that have applied for students sitting the 2023 examinations. She said the impact of the pandemic is not yet in the past and it will have disrupted teaching and learning for the cohort of students sitting State examinations in 2023 and the majority of those sitting the Leaving Cert next year.
“In confirming adjustments to assessment for the 2024 State examinations, I am pleased to be able to give this clarity and certainty to students and I am confident that the adjustments announced today acknowledge the disruption faced by these students as a result of the covid-19 pandemic in a proportional manner, ensure fairness and equity for students, and are educationally appropriate.”
It is understood the level of adjustment will be the same as that applied to State examinations in 2022 and 2023, but updated as relevant.
Detail on the adjusted assessment arrangements for every subject/module descriptor in the Leaving Certificate Established, Leaving Certificate Applied, Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme and Junior Cycle programmes will be issued to schools in due course, and schools will be asked to ensure that all students are made aware of these changes.
Leaving Certificate Results 2023
Minister for Education Norma Foley also confirmed that the date the State Examinations Commission intends to issue the Leaving Certificate 2023 results is Friday, 25 August 2023.
Minister Foley said:
“The SEC has confirmed to me that it intends to issue Leaving Certificate results this year on 25 August. This is a significant and very welcome step towards pre-pandemic norms in relation to the timing for issue of results.
“Within this timeframe, the SEC will again provide a deferred examinations sitting for candidates unable to sit the main exams due to bereavement or major illness or injury, and also implement a post-marking adjustment following completion of marking, in the context of avoiding any cliff edge in grades as compared to the pandemic years. I want to acknowledge the SEC’s huge effort and commitment to deliver this timeline, including its intensive campaign to recruit teachers as examiners. I want to take this opportunity also to thank all those teachers who are engaging in this important work.”
Please see the following link for more information: https://www.gov.ie/en/press-release/2ab3e-minister-foley-confirms-date-for-leaving-certificate-2023-results/#:~:text=Minister%20for%20Education%20Norma%20Foley,is%20Friday%2C%2025%20August%202023.
Junior Cycle
As a result of the decision to maintain adjustments made to assessment arrangements for the 2022/2023 academic year for one further year, the following arrangements now apply in relation to CBAs for Third Year students in 2023/2024:
- Students entering third year of Junior Cycle in 2023/2024 must complete a minimum of one CBA in each subject and one CBA in each short course.
- School management, following consultation with relevant teachers (and where feasible, discussion with students), will decide whether to complete one or two CBAs in each subject. There will be some exceptions to the choices made by schools:
- To ensure assessment of oral communications skills, students must complete CBA 2: Communicative Task in Gaeilge and CBA 1: Oral Communication in Modern Foreign Languages;
- As they are linked in each case with the final examination in the subject, students studying Visual Art, Home Economics, Music, Applied Technology, Engineering, Graphics and Wood Technology must complete CBA 2.
- Arrangements for the cohort of students entering second year of Junior Cycle 2023/2024 are as per the Framework for Junior Cycle 2015. Classroom-Based Assessments should be completed within the time period allocated (e.g. 3 weeks, 4 weeks) as specified in the Assessment Guidelines for each subject or short course.
Key updates for the school year 2023/2024
– All First Years in 2023/24 will study:
- the newly redeveloped SPHE short course specification and the 135-hour Physical Education (PE) short course specification (Jun. Certificate syllabus for PE and NCCA 100-hour short course are discontinued from Sept ‘23)
- the newly developed History (Level 2) short course where relevant (for students following Level 2 Learning Programmes)
- It has been decided that the adjustments made to assessment arrangements for the 2022/2023 academic year will be maintained for one further year. As a result of these assessment adjustments, students entering third year in the school year 2023/2024 will be required to complete a minimum of one Classroom-Based Assessment rather than the usual two. Further detail is at section 3.5.
- This also means that students in Third Year in the school year 2023/24 will not be required to complete Assessment Tasks (ATs) in the relevant subjects.
- The newly redeveloped SPHE specification will be introduced in all schools for students entering their first year of Junior Cycle in the 2023/2024 academic year. Please see the post on the school website for more information.
- The newly developed 135 hour Physical Education (PE) specification will be introduced in all schools for students entering their first year of Junior Cycle in the 2023/2024 academic year. Further detail is set out at section 2.4 of this document.
- The newly developed History (Level 2) short course will be introduced in all schools for students entering their first year of Junior Cycle in the 2023/2024 academic year. This short course specification is designed for students following Level 2 Learning Programmes. Further detail is set out at section 2.4 of this document.
- It is not appropriate to use resources or materials produced or funded by the alcohol industry for education and awareness on alcohol in schools, or for teachers to attend, in their professional capacity, associated training which may be offered by organisations funded by the alcohol industry.