Ms Emer Neville:

Students definitely think that the leaving certificate does not prepare them for third level education. One rarely finds terminal exams in third level education. Modules and continuous assessment are used throughout. That alone is on students' minds as they progress. Another issue is that the CAO is not fit for purpose. Students are being turned away by a raffle system. Students who reached the maximum level of points are not getting their courses, as happened this year. Understandably, we had to drastically change our system to accommodate the unprecedented times, but it highlighted that there are several issues embedded within our system. These are all to the fore of students' minds at the moment. Students want radical change. They understand and resonate with the nightmares that students have about the leaving certificate and the two or three weeks of terminal examinations at the end of the year. A move to continuous assessment for three subjects would assist somewhat. As mentioned earlier, we cannot continue to put plasters on a broken system. That is a short-term solution. We need to completely reform the system as we know it. We need better access to higher education. We have the highest fees within the EU. Many students cannot afford to progress to third level and, as mentioned earlier, there is huge pressure to attend university rather than some of the other options. Students want a drastic and full reform of the leaving certificate.