Dr. Anne Looney:

Absolutely. If the assessment process is of good quality, then it is a motivator. We want students who want to do well in a test. In this regard, we should consider the number of students who said they really enjoyed the leaving certificate English examination because they had a choice as to whether they should do it, felt it was not the be-all and end-all and knew they had a calculated grade in the bag. They felt this because the stakes were lower. They liked the writing and enjoyed proving themselves. It was a really interesting moment.