Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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127. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the measures that have been put in place for Junior Certificate students who test positive for Covid-19 during exams; if they may re-sit exams or receive a predictive result; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36506/22]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The Framework for Junior Cycle presents a dual approach to assessment that supports student learning over the three years of Junior Cycle and also measures achievement at the end of those three years. This dual approach reduces the focus on one externally assessed examination as a means of assessing students and increases the prominence given to formative assessment.

The three-year Junior Cycle programme is underpinned by the integration of assessment and reporting as a normal part of teaching and learning in classrooms. The Junior Cycle Profile of Achievement (JCPA) is a school-based award, which draws upon and reports on achievement across all elements of assessment including ongoing assessment, Classroom-Based Assessments and State Examination descriptors. The JCPA reports student learning and achievement across a range of areas of learning in Junior Cycle, including:

- SEC Final Examinations;

- Short Courses;

- Classroom-Based Assessments;

- Priority Learning Units (for Level 2 and Level 1 Learning Programmes);

- The area of Well-being;

- Other areas of learning.

In the case where a student was unable to sit a Junior Cycle examination this year, due to COVID-19 or any other reason, their examination result will not appear on the JCPA, but their other achievements, including Classroom-Based Assessments for that subject, will still be reported on in their JCPA.

It can be noted that, due to the cancellation of the 2020 and 2021 Junior Cycle examinations as a result of COVID-19, no JCPAs were awarded to students who were in third year in those years. Instead, alternative arrangements were put in place and those students were awarded with a Junior Cycle Certificate of Completion as well as a school report on their learning and achievement at Junior Cycle.