Francis Noel Duffy (Dublin South West, Green Party)
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507. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will consider reviewing the junior certificate examinations for 2022 to take into account the fact that three years of post-primary education have been disrupted as a result of Covid-19; if the examinations will include additional choices and omit parts of the course and examination questions similar to the changes that were made to the leaving certificate examinations; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14429/22]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I am very aware of the disruption experienced by students who are due to take their Junior Cycle and Leaving Certificate examinations this year. The State Examinations Commission, with my Department, has been progressing planning for these examinations, in consultation with the Advisory Group on Planning for the State Examinations, which met on a number of occasions to consider this matter. I also met with members of the group on a bilateral basis.     

Following consideration of this matter by Government on 1 February I announced decisions regarding this year’s Leaving Certificate and Junior Cycle examinations.

I was happy to confirm that the Junior Cycle examinations will take place as normal this summer for the first time since 2019, having been cancelled in 2020 and 2021 on foot on Public Health advice due to the impact of Covid-19.  I was strongly of the view that these examinations should proceed this year. 2022 is the first year that all of the new subject specifications for Junior Cycle will be assessed by the State Examination Commission.  

A number of adjustments to the assessment arrangements for Junior Cycle have been published in recent months, to take account of the impact of Covid, and will provide for more teaching time in schools. These include the following:

 - As part of Junior Cycle, students normally complete two classroom-based assessments (CBAs) in each subject. In this current school year, however, each student must complete a minimum of only one CBA in each subject.

- The school has autonomy in deciding which CBAs will be completed by students with two exceptions. In the case of the languages and practical subjects the CBA that students complete is specified because it is linked to the externally assessed practical examination.

- As CBAs are school-based assessments, schools have been advised that there are flexibilities in the windows for completion of the CBAs in light of particular circumstances schools may encounter due to COVID-19.

- The Assessment Task, which is usually assessed and marked by the SEC, will not be assessed in 2022 in the relevant subjects. Instead the written examination will account for 100% of the marks;

- Adjustments have been made to the requirements for practicals and coursework in subjects including for example, Music, Home Economic, Art and the Technologies.

- No changes have been made to the written examination papers because of the design of the new specifications for Junior Cycle. The Junior Cycle examination papers are completed in a booklet format with students required to answer all questions. The papers are designed to assess the subject specifications in an integrated way, reflecting the way in which teachers’ expertise is used to plan for delivering the subjects using integrated strands and elements. Any adjustments made to these papers at this stage would make them fundamentally different from expectations and would be more likely to disadvantage than to benefit students.