Publication
Senior Cycle Redevelopment – What it means for your young person
Published on
Last updated on
Published on
Last updated on
The Minister for Education has announced a vision for the redevelopment of Senior Cycle education in Ireland.
Full details of the latest update are available at the following link: Minister Foley announces update to Senior Cycle Redevelopment
This page provides parents and guardians with information on some of the key changes to Senior Cycle. It also provides links to webpages/websites where you can find further detail on the changes.
Students and their parents/guardians can access detailed information on how the changes to Senior Cycle will impact students depending on the year a student begins fifth year Here .
Parents and guardians are encouraged to access this page to understand how the changes may affect your young person.
You can also find further information on the current Leaving Certificate curriculum on the National Council of Curriculum and Assessment website
Senior Cycle (or the Leaving Certificate) is changing. The changes are informed by, and build upon, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment’s (NCCA) Advisory Report on the review of Senior Cycle, as well as the experience of Leaving Certificate students, a growing demand for change and international experience and perspectives.
The changes are intended to empower students to meet the challenges of the 21st century, enrich the student experience, embed wellbeing, and reduce student stress levels.
Over the coming years, the curriculum (called subject specifications) in every subject students study at Senior Cycle will be changing.
The subject content of every Senior Cycle subject will be reviewed and redrafted by subject experts on Subject Development Groups in the NCCA.
The first set of revised subjects will be introduced in schools in the 2025/26 school year. These are Biology, Physics, Chemistry, Business, Arabic, Ancient Greek and Latin.
Two new subjects will also be available in a selection of schools from 2025/26; Drama, Film, and Theatre Studies, and Climate Action and Sustainable Development. The process to select the first phase of schools to offer these subjects to students is now open. Your young person’s school will let you know in the 2024/25 school year if they have been selected to introduce one or both new subjects from the start of the 2025/26 school year.
The second set to be revised will be introduced in the 2026/27 school year; Accounting, Construction Studies, Engineering, English, Geography, Physical Education.
The schedule of subjects to be redeveloped will be updated as each annual set of revisions are agreed. The schedule can be found on the NCCA website .
Your young person’s teachers will be fully supported by the Department of Education, the NCCA and Oide, the new support service for teachers and school leaders, to support the changes as they are introduced in schools.
As subjects are reviewed, each one will include new assessment components that are not a traditional written examination.
These new assessment components will be designed to assess students’ skills and key competencies, developed through the study of their chosen subject, in a way that a final written examination cannot.
This change builds on existing assessment practices for many current Leaving Certificate subjects that have assessment components in addition to final examinations such as oral and aural examinations, practical examinations, coursework, and performances (e.g Music, Modern Languages, Technology).
These components could, for example, include a research project, oral assessment, performance assessment, portfolio assessment, creation of an artefact, field study, or an experiment/proof of concept/practical investigation.
These assessment components will worth at least 40% of the available marks and will be externally assessed by the State Examinations Commission (SEC).
Your young person’s school will be provided with all the details on the nature and timing of the assessment component in the revised subject specifications.
It is intended that this change in assessment processes will reduce the pressure on students that comes from final assessments based primarily on written examinations conducted during a concentrated period at the end of sixth year. The change in assessment will also mean that students are being assessed on different skills and competencies.
As part of the ongoing redevelopment of the Senior Cycle curriculum, the National Parents Council (NPC) has a seat on the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, the NCCA’s Senior Cycle Board , and the Partners’ Forum, which is a representative stakeholder group that facilitates information exchange on progress, implementation challenges and work streams in relation to any implementation of Senior Cycle Redevelopment.
Parental input is crucial in shaping the future direction of Senior Cycle Redevelopment. Please see NPC website for details on their consultations.
Parents are also welcome to engage in the public consultations on each new specification as it is published on the NCCA website