Ms Elaine Sheridan:

The mark allocations are there for sections and for question numbers. There are eight questions with the mark for the questions. They were not broken down for each subpart because that again allows for flexibility at the time of marking. The indication is there in terms of the space that is provided for them. They know when they are required to write an extended response and a short response, or tick a box, where there is a prescribed set of space there.

To confirm and to follow up on Ms Feeney’s point on not having a choice, having no choice for weaker and middle-of-the-road students is an obstacle one is removing and it makes the paper less challenging for them because they have less to read. It makes a paper shorter by having no choice and all of the junior cycle examination papers have no choice. Sometimes, there may be a little bit of internal choice within questions. In the written production, for example, the students may be given an option to write a blog, a letter or email.

The other piece to consider within the Gaeilge is literature. That is another area which is covered but is a policy matter. Within literature, there is a prescribed set of literature. Schools, teachers and students choose which literature they will base their studies on. The questions we set are broad and open so that they can answer the question to suit the piece of literature, short story, drama or poetry they have chosen to study. That sort of choice and flexibility has to be there within the questions so that the question can be answered, depending on what literature the students have chosen to study.