Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 26 April 2022

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills

Leaving Certificate Reform: Discussion (Resumed)

Mr. Barry Slattery:

Yes. In other jurisdictions they have, for different reasons. I am familiar with one jurisdiction where it was decoupled but it was not a deliberate decision. It was universally decided they were going to go with their own admissions policy and they developed a kind of matriculation examination. The obvious consequence of it was increased stress because students were now focused on studying two curriculums. I did not hear the most recent update on it but they were finding the in-school curriculum, that is, the national curriculum, was getting less attention because the stakes were all about progression to university so students were focusing on the curriculum for matriculation.