Ms Celeste O'Callaghan:

As my colleague was saying, leaving certificate mathematics is part of an overall process of redevelopment at senior cycle that the Minister announced in March 2022. As the members may know, in September of last year she announced an accelerated roll-out of the programme. All subjects, including maths, will be redeveloped within that process.

A core aspect of that is shifting away from the heavy reliance on the terminal exam to introducing additional assessment components that will account for, I think, 40% of the overall mark. Obviously, there are broader issues in the context of appropriately testing students' skills and competencies, but part of it is about spreading the assessment load in order that the reliance on the high-stakes terminal exam is lessened somewhat. The additional assessment components are a part of the redevelopment. They allow students to display their learning outside the exam hall and spread the workload through the academic year.