Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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287. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the measures being taken to ensure that students educated at home have equal access to the newly implemented additional assessment component in the first tranche of subjects, namely biology, physics, chemistry and business which is 40% of their leaving certificate exam. [49859/25]

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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288. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the way in which the newly implemented additional assessment component for the first tranche of subjects will affect students taught at home; and the oversight will be provided to ensure fairness and equity for these students undertaking their studies outside of the traditional school environment. [49860/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 287 and 288 together.

As the Deputy is aware, through Senior Cycle Redevelopment programme, the specifications for all Leaving Certificate curricular subjects are scheduled to be redeveloped by 2029, in annual groupings.

The first tranche of 9 new and revised subjects have been introduced for this academic year and are available to study for all students commencing their Leaving Certificate studies including those educated at home, and will be examined for the first time in 2027. These new and revised specifications are available on curriculumonline.ie.

It is important to note that 28 Leaving Certificate subjects currently have components beyond written examinations and this will increase to all subjects as the various tranches of redeveloped subjects are introduced. Those components and the Additional Assessment Components (AACs) now being introduced take a variety of forms including, for example oral and practical examinations as well as coursework. This variety across subjects will continue.

The rationale for AACs includes ensuring students are rewarded for developing and demonstrating a broader range of competencies and skills than can be assessed in terminal written examinations only. In relation to coursework, the work is designed to be completed over an extended period of time, and is intended to be integrated into the regular teaching and learning experienced by students.

The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) have worked closely with the State Examinations Commission (SEC) to publish specific guidelines for the completion of Additional Assessment Components. The AAC guidelines explain the steps all students must follow during the two-year course, with teachers closely monitoring and authenticating their work across several distinct stages of activity. These activities contribute to the generation of student evidence of learning and achievement.

Four sample examination papers (two at Higher Level, two at Ordinary Level) in each of the Tranche 1 subjects, totalling 72 papers including Irish language versions, were published by the SEC in April 2025.

In addition, sample briefs for the AACs in each of the Tranche 1 subjects were published last week by the SEC, and a live brief for the AACs in all relevant Tranche 1 subjects will be issued in January 2026.

Both the sample examination papers and sample briefs are available online to all students and their teachers regardless of setting.

The State Examinations Commission (SEC) has statutory responsibility for the administration of the State certificate examinations. This includes setting out the requirements for the authentication of coursework components, in line with overall examinations and assessment policy, in subjects where the AAC or its current equivalent take the form of coursework. Those requirements are currently outlined in relevant circulars issued by the SEC. These circulars and guidance detail the requirement for a chain of accountability and oversight by a school or recognised centre.

The State examinations coursework authentication process is an ongoing process of engagement and oversight over a period of time by teachers of all students, rather than a single ‘point in time’ engagement.

The authentication process for coursework is intended to ensure that each piece of coursework presented for assessment is the candidate’s own individual work, completed in full compliance with coursework regulations and requirements. To ensure inter-candidate equity across all students entered as examination candidates and to maintain the integrity of the examinations, there is a requirement that candidates are required to present their own unaided work and that each candidate completes their work under the same conditions as all other candidates.

The SEC intends to shortly publish a consolidated set of ‘Coursework Rules and Procedures’, which will apply to all coursework completed during the 2025/26 school year and to all coursework including the new AACs in subsequent years. These consolidated Coursework Rules and Procedures will include details of the roles and responsibilities of students/candidates, teachers and school management in respect of the completion, authentication and submission of valid coursework.