Mr. Neville Kenny:

Looking at the subjects that already have those additional components - Ms Feeney gave an outline of how many of those subjects there are - when we look at the weighting they have, they tend towards a 40% or even higher percentage. It feeds into that sense of the value and the meaningfulness of the weighting that the component attracts. We appreciate that there is a nexus between curriculum and assessment. In terms of how students experience senior cycle, assessment is a huge part of that. We will all be familiar with terms like teaching to the exam and the pressure that brings. To really bring the change into how assessment is integrated into the teaching and learning experience, students need to feel the value that is there. When we look at the subjects we already have those components in, there is a norm, if you like, towards 40%, or existing percentages are at that sort of level. Some are a bit higher but, admittedly, some are below it at the moment. We also see a variety in those components. Ms Feeney outlined that sense of variety, whether it is orals, practicals, course work or other elements.

When we look at the subject development groups and the work they have done in tranche 1 and tranche 2 subjects, we can see real innovation in a number of the subjects in terms of the opportunity that is there because it is of that kind of value. We have seen in tranches 1 and 2 that 40% to 50% is where the groups want to go.