Leaving Certificate (Ireland)

The Leaving Certificate Examination (Irish: An Ardteistiméireacht) (commonly referred to as the Leaving Cert) is the final examination in the Irish secondary school system. 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.

Programs

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; most students take six or seven. Except where exemptions are awarded for individual circumstances, the core subjects, English, Mathematics and Irish, must be taken as compulsory subjects.

• 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 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 into the centralised system with other awards in the UCAS system. On June 8th, 2004 it was decided that a Leaving Certificate (higher) subject will be worth two-thirds of an A-level (UK). Increasingly students from the Republic of Ireland attend university in Northern Ireland, and indeed vice-versa. Early indications [1] seem to show that Irish higher education institutions will adjust their evaluation of the A-level in line with the report.

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 and Foundation. Foundation level may only be taken in two subjects: Irish and Maths. All other subjects may be sat in only Ordinary and Higher levels.

• Mandatory (exemptions granted in certain cases)

1. Irish
2. English (must obtain a passing grade to obtain certificate)
3. Mathematics (must obtain a passing grade to obtain certificate)

• Optional (A minimum of three more subjects must be picked other than the mandatory ones; most students choose four)

1. Accounting
2. Agricultural Economics
3. Agricultural Science
4. Ancient Greek
5. Applied Mathematics
6. Arabic
7. Art
8. Biology
9. Business
10. Chemistry
11. Classical Studies
12. Construction Studies
13. Design and Communication Graphics
14. Dutch
15. Economics
16. Estonian
17. Engineering
18. French
19. Geography
20. German
21. Hebrew
22. History
23. Home Economics
24. Italian
25. Japanese
26. Latin
27. Lithuanian
28. Music
29. Physics
30. Physics with Chemistry
31. Polish
32. Portuguese
33. Religious Education
34. Russian
35. Spanish
36. Technical Drawing
37. Technology

Students, however, may not take the following subject combinations:

1. Physics with Chemistry and either of the separate subjects, Physics or Chemistry.
2. Economics and Agricultural Economics
3. Classical Studies and Latin
4. Classical Studies and Ancient Greek

The Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme is an additional option which may be taken instead of one of the other optional subjects. It is a more life-oriented selection. Students intending to apply to third-level institutions rarely choose 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, Maths, 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.

Grading

Results of the Leaving Certificate examination subjects are given in the form of grades. Each grade represents a percentage range of marks as follows:

Percentage Range	Grade
90 or over	A1
85 but less than 90	A2
80 but less than 85	B1
75 but less than 80	B2
70 but less than 75	B3
65 but less than 70	C1
60 but less than 65	C2
55 but less than 60	C3
50 but less than 55	D1
45 but less than 50	D2
40 but less than 45	D3
25 but less than 40	E
10 but less than 25	F
Less than 10	No Grade

Points

Points awarded for each grade are fairly standardised between colleges, but it is still up to each individual institution to decide points given for each grade.

A1 Higher 100 Ordinary 60

A2 Higher 90 Ordinary 50

B1 Higher 85 Ordinary 45

B2 Higher 80 Ordinary 40

B3 Higher 75 Ordinary 35

C1 Higher 70 Ordinary 30

C2 Higher 65 Ordinary 25

C3 Higher 60 Ordinary 20

D1 Higher 55 Ordinary 15

D2 Higher 50 Ordinary 10

D3 Higher 45 Ordinary 5

In the Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme, students may obtain a Distinction (70 points), Merit (50 points), or Pass (30 points).

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." [2]

See also

• Central Applications Office
• Education in the Republic of Ireland

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