Mr. Kieran Christie:

On transition year, there is variation from school to school. There is a lot of flexibility within schools regarding how they manage transition year. Many schools have a model in line with what the Deputy is arguing for, quite frankly, but there is an element of flexibility in terms of scheduling for students. I refer to when they can do their work experience and so on. Often, it is a local issue that may need to be discussed with parents such as the one who was in contact with the Deputy.

On the question of the LCA, we find that the LCA programme is very positively received in schools in many ways. There is capacity for schools to tailor their offering to their particular community in many ways. I am not 100% sure I fully understood the premise of your question; suffice it to say that the programme is one we are very supportive of. It makes a very valuable contribution to the offering of a school across the spectrum.