Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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134. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will introduce accredited grades on a permanent basis for the leaving certificate given that the old system is no longer fit for purpose; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35321/21]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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My Department is acutely aware of the disruption caused to all students because of school closures arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. From 11 January 2021, all students engaged in a programme of remote learning with their schools.

Students who have just completed fifth year and who are due to take Leaving Certificate examinations in 2022 have experienced a degree of disruption to their learning. In these circumstances, it was considered that some level of adjustment to the normal Leaving Certificate assessment arrangements should be made for them that would be proportionate to their experience and be educationally appropriate. Given where these students were at in their studies at the time of each school lockdown period, the impact of the loss of tuition time is less than that experienced by those students who sat the Leaving Certificate this year.

Yesterday, following a meeting of the Advisory Group on Planning for State Examinations, I announced that the level of adjustment to the assessment arrangements for the 2022 Leaving Certificate Examination cohort would be broadly the same as that applied by the Assessment Arrangements For Leaving Certificate Examinations 2021,as set in December 2020. There arrangements were announced before the second period of school closures.

I also announced yesterday that the State Examinations Commission (SEC) will run an alternative set of Leaving Certificate Examinations in 2022, shortly following the main set of examinations. The SEC will set out the eligibility conditions for these examinations, which will be limited to certain students who are unable to sit the main set of examinations due to close family bereavement, COVID-19 illness during those examinations, and certain other categories of serious illness, to be clearly and strictly delineated. The SEC will issue further details regarding these examinations, with all arrangements guided by prevailing public health advice. There will also be further engagement with stakeholders in this matter.

By way of ongoing reform across Senior Cycle, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) recently submitted the Senior Cycle Review: Advisory Report to my Department and I for consideration. The Advisory Report, which will be published in the coming months, looks at priority areas, longer-term goals and a proposed timeline on the pace and scale of developments in senior cycle. It sets out a shared vision articulated as the basis, which will guide further work on specific areas for developments, such as, senior cycle programmes and pathways, curriculum specifications and assessment. This further work will be carried out on a phased basis over the next few years with further consultation as appropriate.