Written answers

Tuesday, 20 October 2020

Department of Education and Skills

State Examinations

Photo of Paul McAuliffePaul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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353. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if changes to the leaving certificate 2021 are currently being considered; and if a predicted grades option will remain for students that wish to avail same. [31455/20]

Photo of Norma FoleyNorma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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My Department is acutely aware of the disruption caused to students as a result of school closures resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic and which led the decision not to run the state examinations this summer.

In the context of the return to schools of students for the 2020/21 school year my Department published a range of documentation and support material as part of the Roadmap for the Full Return to School, which is available at www.gov.ie/backtoschool. This includes guidelines on the adjusted assessment arrangements for state examinations in summer 2021. The Assessment Arrangements for Junior Cycle and Leaving Certificate Examinations 2021 are available at the following link: .

As schools have significant autonomy in determining how to sequence and pace learning for students in their schools, no centrally prescribed adjustment of the curriculum and courses of study have been made for students taking the certificate examinations in 2021. Consequently, the most appropriate way to reflect and take account of the challenges for students that have occurred in 2019/20, and may occur in 2020/21, was to incorporate adjustments to the certificate examinations in 2021.

These adjustments have been arrived at through discussions between my Department, the State Examinations Commission (SEC) and the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) and key stakeholders. The key stakeholders that were consulted in relation to the document included unions representing teachers, and school management bodies.

The State Examinations Commission (SEC), which has statutory responsibility for operational matters relating to the certificate examinations, intends to operate the 2021 state examinations as normally as possible, with appropriate contingency built in, in line with prevailing public health advice. It is not intended that there would be any change to the length of the written examinations.

For subjects where the SEC issues project briefs during the 2020/21 school year, the intention is to issue these at least four weeks earlier than normal. For subjects with course work completion dates typically late in the school year, schools will be asked to submit this coursework two weeks earlier than normal as a contingency measure. In this context teachers are being encouraged to plan and undertake these projects as early as possible in the programme of study.

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