Dr. Harold Hislop:

I think it is worth noting too that while leaving certificate exams are starting next week, we are also running junior certificate exams for students who are early school-leavers and for whom the junior cycle examination would possibly be their only qualification. They have been given that option, and a small number have taken it, but it is still important, as have a number of adult learners who are eligible to take either the leaving certificate or the junior cycle next year, again for whom it is a return to education and perhaps their only qualification.

One of the weaknesses in the leaving certificate system at the moment vis-à-vis comparable systems in other countries is that we have fewer episodes of assessment throughout the two years of the leaving certificate cycle. We do have practicals and orals, which are useful and give us a lot of information, but some countries have different assessment points at different times. We did not have that option, but we are determined to run the oral exams and the practical subjects for next year because they do form another important part of measuring the learning of students.