Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Each school is required to use the Framework for Junior Cycle 2015 to plan a programme for each of the three years of the Junior Cycle that meets the requirements set out in the Framework and Circular 0028/2023. When planning its Junior Cycle programme, each school is required to take account of the school’s local context and the backgrounds, interests, and abilities of its students and to reflect the characteristic spirit of the school.

Students will study a minimum of eight and a maximum of 10 subjects (the maximum of 10 subjects includes subjects studied outside of a recognised school setting) for final examination and reporting through the Junior Cycle Profile of Achievement (JCPA), the exact number being dependent on whether the student is also taking short courses. It is not the aim or intention that short courses would replace existing subjects. A maximum of four short courses may be studied in the Junior Cycle programme, in addition to Wellbeing short courses in SPHE, CSPE and the 135 hour PE specification. Each student must include Irish, English, Mathematics and History among the subjects that he/she studies, along with a number of other subjects and/or short courses in their Junior Cycle programme.

Students taking the established Leaving Certificate programme must take at least five subjects. English, Mathematics and Irish are the core subjects for all students, except for those students who have an exemption from Irish. Typically, students take six or seven subjects. The range of subjects offered in an individual school is a matter for the school. The range of subjects offered will vary in accordance with the teaching resources in the school and the needs and interests of the students. Art is one of a number of optional subjects offered by schools.