The 'Leaving Certificate' (
Irish: '''Ardteistiméireacht'''), commonly referred to as the 'Leaving Cert' (Irish: '''Ardteist''') 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. The 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 six subjects are presented, including Irish
[1]; 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 universities increasingly require it and also to broaden options.
★ '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.
★ '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 emphasize areas of achievement and excellence which are not catered for by traditional academic programmes.
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. While a student can take as many subjects as he/she wishes (to a theoretical maximum of around 20; most take seven or eight), the best 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 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[2]. 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
[3], using it as a benchmark, albeit in reverse to the original intention.
Grading and 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'' (often referred to as Honours), ''Ordinary'' (often 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. In general, a Higher Level grade is worth 40 points more than the equivalent Ordinary Level grade (e.g. a Higher C1 is 70, an Ordinary C1 is 30). However no points are awarded for a grade below D3 (below 40%). Thus if a student scores 40% on a Higher Level paper he/she will receive a D3, worth 45 points. But 39.7% on the same paper will score zero points.
The points allocations in the table below have been collectively agreed by the third-level institutions involved in the CAO scheme, and relativities that they imply have no official standing in the eyes of the State Examinations Commission or the Department of Education and Science.
A student who is not academically qualified by virtue of points received having undertaken the exam, may still gain entry to university if some exams are taken through the medium of Irish which attracts bonus points. These bonus points are not revealed to the end user of the certificate. Thus a student who otherwise "failed" the exam may be seen to have passed.
| 'Percentage Range' | 'Grade' | 'Points for Higher' | 'Points for Ordinary' | 'Points for Foundation[4]' |
| 90 – 100 | A1 | 100 | 60 | 20 |
| 85 – 89.9 | A2 | 90 | 50 | 15 |
| 80 – 84.9 | B1 | 85 | 45 | 10 |
| 75 – 79.9 | B2 | 80 | 40 | 5 |
| 70 – 74.9 | B3 | 75 | 35 | 0 |
| 65 – 69.9 | C1 | 70 | 30 | 0 |
| 60 – 64.9 | C2 | 65 | 25 | 0 |
| 55 – 59.9 | C3 | 60 | 20 | 0 |
| 50 – 54.9 | D1 | 55 | 15 | 0 |
| 45 – 49.9 | D2 | 50 | 10 | 0 |
| 40 – 44.9 | D3 | 45 | 5 | 0 |
| 25 – 39.9 | E | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 – 24.9 | F | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 0 – 9.9 | NG | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 'LCVP Grade' | 'Percentage Range' | 'Points awarded'[5] |
| Distinction | 80 – 100 | 70 |
| Merit | 65 – 79.9 | 50 |
| Pass | 50 – 64.9 | 30 |
| Unsuccessful | 0 – 49.9 | 0 |
Arts and Humanities
★ Ancient Greek†
★ Art
★ Classical Studies†
★ English
★ Geography
★ Hebrew Studies
★ History
★ Latin†
★ Music
★ Religious Education
Modern languages
★ Arabic
★ French
★ German
★ Irish ''(mandatory subject for
NUI entry; some students can receive an exemption)''
★ Italian
★ Japanese
★ Russian
★ Spanish
Sciences
★ Agricultural Science
★ Biology
★ Chemistry †
★ Mathematics ''(mandatory subject)''
★ Physics †
★ Physics and Chemistry †
Applied Sciences
★ Applied Mathematics
★ Construction Studies
★ Engineering
★ Home Economics, Scientific and Social
★ Technical Drawing ''(2008 will be the last examined year in this subject)''
Business Studies
★ Accounting
★ Agricultural Economics†
★ Business
★ Economics†
Notes
†Subject exclusions - candidates may not take any of following subject combinations:
★ Agricultural Economics and Economics
★ Classical Studies and Ancient Greek
★ Classical Studies and Latin
★ Agricultural Science and Biology ( No longer applies as subjects are sat on different days.)
★ "Physics and Chemistry" (combined) and either "Physics" (alone) or "Chemistry" (alone)
Additionally under the
Nice Treaty the state is obliged to provide language support for as many
official EU languages as they can, and currently offers:
★ Bulgarian
★ Czech
★ Dutch
★ Danish
★ Estonian
★ Finnish
★ Modern Greek
★ Hungarian
★ Latvian
★ Lithuanian
★ Polish
★ Portuguese
★ Romanian
★ 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, with a focus on expanding the horizons of the less intellectually-capable.
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.
Matriculation to Irish Universities using the Leaving Certificate
The majority of candidates take between six and eight subjects, including the obligatory English, Mathematics and Irish (unless the student is exempt) and usually a foreign language. The other three to five subjects taken must be officially recognised by the specific university.
Of the subjects taken, the best six results are taken to make up the perfect score of 600 points (just as 2400 is the best on the
SATs or 45 points are in the
International Baccalaureate).
Students using all their subjects at higher level can in theory score 600. If a student takes all subjects at Ordinary level, the highest point score they can achieve is 360 (see points table above).
When people enquire about how someone scored in the Leaving Cert, it is implied that the person gives their score out of 600,
e.g. 'I got 545' (out of 600)
Subjects taken at foundation are not always accepted for matriculation to certain Universities.
Some universities such as the
University of Limerick award bonus points for subjects such as Maths taken at higher level, adding 40 extra points on to the student's total points tally, this put down to widely perceived view of the difficulty of the higher level Mathematics course (in 2006 only 14% of students sitting the Irish Leaving Certificate took the Higher level Maths paper).
Some universities require a foreign language and Irish, although students may obtain an exemption for these reasons such as learning difficulties, birth outside of the
Republic of Ireland, not having taken Irish before the age of 11 or studying abroad for a period of at least 2 years after the age of 11 (the student is presumed to have fallen too far behind with their knowledge of the subject to make it worthwhile recommencing their study of Irish).
Courses such as Medicine and Law (both of which can be entered at undergraduate level in Ireland), Physiotherapy, Veterinary science, and Architecture all require points in the high 500s, for example Medicine in
University College Cork requires 580 points (a score of equivalent to over 2300 in the
SATs or 3 As in the
A levels.
Some University courses require specific subjects, for example in Irish Veterinary Medicine candidates require a minimum grade of C3 in Chemistry at higher level, in order to matriculate; regardless of the number of points they earn between the remainder of their subjects. Other courses such as Medicine in UCD allow direct entry to a five year medicine course, provided that candidate achieved 600 points and holds a C3, in chemistry, at higher level; It should be noted that the applicant need not present chemistry for the purposes of calculating points in order to satisfy the universities matriculation requirements.
Dates
The exams begin on the Wednesday after the first Monday of June every year, traditionally beginning with
English paper one followed by paper two.
[6]. The exams last two and a half weeks, the 2007 exams began on
6 June and ended on
22 June; with results being released on
15 August.
International usage
Only one school outside 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 Arabic being substituted 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".
Miscellaneous
★ Higher level is informally called ''Honours'', Higher level exams are generally far more difficult and in depth compared to Ordinary, it is similar to the US and Canadian
Advanced Placement Program structure, however, all schools offer the particular subject at Higher level, but many classes tend to be smaller in size due to the difficulty of the higher level curriculum.
★ Ordinary level is informally called ''Pass.
★ Irish, Mathematics, English and Technical Drawing are comprised of 2 separate papers called Paper 1 and Paper 2.
★ Certain subjects include field work, practical exams (Music) or projects that make up part of the complete exam.
★ Agricultural Science includes a detailed Oral examination and inspection.
★ Every Language subject (with the exception of English, Ancient Greek and Latin) includes a mandatory Oral and an Aural exam component.
★ By 2012, the Oral component of the Irish exam will increase in importance to 40% of the exam, compared to its current level of 20%.
★ In 2007 St.Kilians German school was the first secondary school to offer the Bi-Lingual Leaving Certificate in Ireland.
★ English at leaving certificate level has an optional oral offered only to foreign students only contributing to the same amount of marks as the Irish oral which is mandatory.
References
1. 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
2. The Irish Leaving Certificate, Expert Group Report for Awards Seeking Admission to the UCAS Tariff, November 2003 2186 KB PDF file
3. BBC News, Northern Ireland, June 10, 2004 Changes to affect NI students
4. Some institutions award these points; most award nil.
5. Irish Leaving Certificate Examination Points Calculation Grid
6. 2007 Exam Timetable
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
★
LeavingCertRevision.com - Leaving Cert discussion website
★
Leavingcertguide.com - Directory of Leaving Certificate Websites
★
Zulunotes.com - A collaborative wiki of Leaving Cert Notes
★
Skoool.ie - a popular Leaving Cert study website
★
LCR Online Notes - free notes for various LC subjects.
★
theleavingcert.com - a student's guide to the leaving cert
★
Leaving Certificate Applied Website
★
Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme Website
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