Written answers
Monday, 8 September 2025
Department of Education and Skills
State Examinations
Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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963. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of children who left school without a junior certificate in each of the years between 2019 and 2024, inclusive and as a percentage of total number of students sitting and eligible for the junior certificate, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46561/25]
Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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964. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of children who left school with a junior certificate but without a leaving certificate in each of the years between 2019 and 2024 inclusive and as a percentage of total number of students sitting and eligible for the leaving certificate, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46562/25]
Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 963 and 964 together.
| Entry Year | Leaving Certificate Year | Entry Cohort | Sat Junior Certificate | Sat Leaving Certificate | Sat JC but no LC | % of entry cohort | % of JC sitters | % of LC sitters |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 2019 | 59,524 | 58,051 | 54,265 | 3,786 | 6.4 | 6.5 | 7.0 |
| 2014 | 2020 | 61,161 | 59,664 | 55,992 | 3,672 | 6.0 | 6.2 | 6.6 |
| 2015 | 2021 | 62,248 | 60,685 | 57,336 | 3,349 | 5.4 | 5.5 | 5.8 |
| 2016 | 2022 | 63,910 | 62,374 | 58,586 | 3,788 | 5.9 | 6.1 | 6.5 |
| 2017 | 2023 | 63,910 | 62,479 | 57,512 | 4,967 | 7.8 | 7.9 | 8.6 |
The early school leavers sitting a Junior Certificate exam but no Leaving Certificate exam is presented in the 'Sat JC but no LC' column, and this figure is reported as a percentage of the entry cohort, or total pupils eligible for the Junior Certificate exam, as well as a percentage of those pupils who sat a Junior and entered senior cycle, and as a percentage of the pupils sitting a Leaving Certificate.
The annual retention reports may be found at this link:
www.gov.ie/en/department-of-education/collections/retention/
Tusla is responsible for maintaining a register of all children who are home educated or who attend a school that does not fall under the definition of a ‘recognised school’ as set out in the Education Act 1998.
Tusla has established the Alternative Education Assessment and Registration Service (AEARS), which has oversight of the regulation of provision for education in places other than recognised schools. The legal basis for carrying out assessments in places other than recognised schools is under Section 14 of the Education (Welfare) Act, 2000.
Children under the age of 16 who leave a recognised school for an alternative education setting must register with AEARS for inclusion on the Section 14 register. These children are entitled to and can choose to sit the Junior Certificate and Leaving Certificate examinations.
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