Ms Nicola Hart:

I want to come in on the point on the leaving certificate applied about which Mr. Harris spoke. I agree the leaving certificate needs to be looked at and we need to have a much broader idea of what success in schools looks like for all of our students. There has been some very good reform providing level 2 and level 1 programmes for the junior cycle but there is no obligation on schools to provide them. There is still a tendency in many schools to state that if people want special programmes, there is a special school to which they can apply. We need to have a look at this. Often our students are excluded from transition year, which could be a very beneficial less academically focused year. They may not be considered in schools where it is optional. We need to look at statutory obligations and, as Mr. Harris has said, not accept excuses for not running programmes to broaden the range of options available to students.