Press release
Minister for Education and CEO of the NCCA mark recent launch of consultation for six Leaving Certificate specifications
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Minister for Education Norma Foley along with Arlene Forster, Chief Executive Officer of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA), today formally marked the recent launch of the open consultation on draft specifications for six Leaving Certificate subjects, as part of Senior Cycle Redevelopment.
Following approval by the NCCA Council at their meeting of 6 December 2023, draft subject specifications for Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Arabic, Latin, and Ancient Greek are now out for consultation.
Speaking of the consultation, Minister Foley said:
“I am so pleased to launch the open consultation on these six draft Leaving Certificate specifications.
“Last September, I announced the acceleration of an ambitious Senior Cycle Redevelopment programme. This update to the Senior Cycle Redevelopment programme’s implementation timeline means that many students benefit from the changes, through earlier national roll-out of revised subject specifications.
“Student experience is at the heart of the redevelopment – I want students to display their learnings and talents at Senior Cycle, outside of the exam hall and beyond a terminal exam.
“The launch of the consultation on draft specifications for six subjects within Tranche 1 of the programme is a major milestone in the programme. I would like to commend Arlene, and all those at the NCCA, including the Council itself, the Board for Senior Cycle, and the members of the Subject Development Groups, as well as the Executive, for their continuous cooperation and hard work in preparing these draft specifications.
“I welcome and look forward to in-depth engagement with all our stakeholders across the education system, and beyond, as we look to introduce the new curricula in schools in 2025.”
The consultation, which opened 8 December 2023, will engage with a wide variety of stakeholders. The NCCA has also contacted schools to participate in school-based focus groups involving teachers, students and school leaders.
Stakeholders can engage with the consultation through an online survey or an online submission. Additionally, for draft science subject specifications, an application may be made to participate in a consultation event.
Subject Development Groups for each subject will use the feedback from the consultations to inform work in refining final curriculum specifications.
The consultation will run until Friday 23 February 2024 and be accessed via the NCCA’s website.
The first tranche of new and revised Leaving Certificate subjects will be introduced in schools in 2025. Each of these new and revised subject specifications will incorporate additional assessment component(s) (AACs) that are not a traditional written examination, which will be worth a minimum of 40% of the available marks and will be externally assessed by the State Examinations Commission (SEC).
There are nine subjects in the first tranche. Seven are revisions to existing subjects: Business, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Arabic, Latin, and Ancient Greek. There will also be two new subjects: Drama, Film and Theatre Studies, and Climate Action and Sustainable Development.
It is planned that the draft subject specifications for the remaining Tranche 1 subjects – Business, Climate Action and Sustainable Development, and Drama, Film and Theatre Studies, will be out for consultation in early Spring 2024, subject to approval by the NCCA Council.
The two new subjects of Drama, Film and Theatre Studies, and Climate Action and Sustainable Development, will be rolled out on a phased basis to a network of schools in 2025.
Tranche 2 subjects will be introduced to the curriculum for all schools in 2026. The subjects in Tranche 2 are: Accounting, Construction Studies, Engineering, English, Geography, LCVP Link Modules, and Physical Education. Subject development work on the second tranche will commence shortly. Further tranches will be introduced on an annual basis thereafter.