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The Leaving Cert Dilemma: An Exploration of Its Pros and Cons
Ah, the Leaving Cert. It's the set of exams in Ireland that determines which students are best suited for certain college courses. For many, just the thought of the June quiz can send shivers down their spines and invoke unrequested memories of Thursday evenings staring at a catalogue of notes for English poetry. It's essentially a rite of passage for every young Irish person, a clear portal through which we must all step to move into adulthood.
But is the Leaving Cert system still fit for purpose, or is it a relic of a bygone era (As the time comes to scrap the leaving cert) when cutting-edge technology meant having pens that didn't burst and spill ink everywhere? This question has come up several times, and we're here to explore its pros and cons.
This article consists of:
Overview Of What The Leaving Cert Consists Of
4 Major Advantages Of The Leaving Cert System
4 Major Disadvantages Of The Leaving Cert System
Our Esteemed View On The Leaving Cert System
In the following sections, we'll dive deeper into the Leaving Cert system, looking at its strengths and weaknesses and exploring whether or not it's still the best way to prepare Irish students for college and beyond.
Overview Of What The Leaving Cert Consists Of
The Leaving Cert consists of six subjects, with equal weight given to each subject, and it is graded out of 100 (and 125 for higher level Maths) in each subject, with a maximum score of 625 points. The Leaving Cert exams take place in June in designated exam centres, and students must rely on their memory and knowledge of the subject to answer the questions.
The Leaving Cert timetable stays pretty similar every year, which means that on a Wednesday, English Paper 1 greets the fresh batch of tributes. In 2024, the Leaving Cert is undergoing significant changes, with every subject becoming a mix of both continuous assessment and a final exam to varying degrees.
At its core, the Leaving Cert is an exam primarily set in June, in which students are graded across six subjects out of 100 (and 125 for higher level Maths) and can achieve a maximum score of 625. Based on how many points students score overall determines which college course they are eligible for.
Courses of greater difficulty and/or demand require higher points to get in. The scoring operates on a bell curve system which allows students to predict the points needed for a course pretty accurately based on previous years.
Here's a chart showing the distribution from 2022:
The exams take place in exam centres where students only use pen and paper and don't have access to any extra resources. Essentially, it's as basic as you can have an exam. There are no airs or graces, just an old-school 2-3 hour exam in a musty sports hall, with the hopes and dreams of all your schoolmates floating around in the air.
The collective knowledge you (hopefully) have gathered in the last two years regarding a particular subject must be imparted onto the blank canvas. Some subjects, such as Irish, have components in which you can secure a certain percentage of the marks prior to the June test in assessments such as an oral Irish Leaving Cert Oral Higher Level (Béaltriail Hannah).
But for others, such as English, your entire score rides on one exam. In 2024, the system is getting a major glow-up, with every subject becoming a mix of both continuous and final exams to varying degrees. The exact details of the adjustments are still being hashed out, and certain schools will be used as pilot schools as the new system is still on its training wheels.
Leaving Cert System 2024 Changes
From next year on, from 2024, the Leaving Cert will only have 60% for any subject in the final exam. In the final exam in June from 2024 onwards, no subject in the Leaving Cert will have a hundred per cent weighting on the final exam. At a minimum, 40% of the grade will be achieved throughout the two years in continuous assessment.
This is an advantage in many ways. Firstly, it spreads the load across two years instead of one whole exam. All the students aren't in one basket, and it allows for a more fair assessment of the student's abilities. The Leaving Cert is like if a professional athlete trained for two years played a few exhibition matches, and then had only six games to prove their worth and secure a contract for the next season.
Clearly, this is not an ideal way to assess an athlete's ability and potential. It would make more sense for the athlete to compete in regular matches throughout the year, giving them a chance to learn from previous games, make adjustments, and demonstrate their skills on a consistent basis. Currently, the LC is like the Olympics, with no World Champs in between.
While you could write an Iliad-length piece detailing the advantages & disadvantages, we decided to hone in on what we believed to be the most important aspects of both.
4 Major Advantages Of The Leaving Cert System
1. Provides standardised assessments
One of the main aspects of the Leaving Cert system is its standardised assessment, which can be seen as a major advantage. The fact that the assessment is the same for every single student is one of the key aspects of the Leaving Cert, and it allows for a fair way to judge students.
All students are assessed by the same metric as everyone else, regardless of what school they went to or what subjects they studied to a certain extent. With the Bell Curve in action, you can even compare across years (such as your older brothers' or sisters' years!) where you would rank.
The fact that the Leaving Cert stays very consistent throughout the years allows for this straightforward comparison throughout history. What this essentially shows is that it was easier to gain 570 marks in 2022 than in earlier years. Getting 570 points puts you in the 90th percentile of students sitting the Leaving Cert exam. In 2015, for example, you would have only needed to get 500 points to be in the 90th percentile for the country.
In addition to providing a fair and challenging system, the standardised assessment makes it very easy for universities to segregate students. Interestingly enough, there is no interview process for getting into a college course in Ireland. Essentially, it all comes down to how many points a student scores in one single set of exams. If a student scores enough points, they get into their desired course!
2. Difficult for students to cheat
In addition to providing a fair system for all, the standardised assessment makes it very hard for students to cheat during the exam. The reason for this is that the exam is taken in person in an exam hall during the month of June. It is not like college, where students can submit a project online.
Students will not have access to external resources such as notes, help from other students or teachers, or even AI features such as Chat, GPT, Jasper or any other client. What makes the system fair and challenging is the low-key and low-skill way in which the exam is carried out.
Currently, colleges are in a serious battle trying to stop students from being literally able to create top-quality answers to assignments in seconds. Trinity College advises academics to adjust assignments in light of chatgpt cheating threat. Chatting with some of my mates, it's clear to see that Trinity College is currently losing the battle!
3. Prepares students for the college exams
In addition to the benefits of standardised assessment, there are other advantages to the Leaving Cert system. One of the most important is that it prepares students for the demands of college exams. The Leaving Cert simulates what college courses will be like and gives students an idea of what they can expect in terms of workload and expectations.
This can help students make more informed decisions about their future academic paths and career choices. Preparing for the Leaving Cert can be a high-pressure experience, but it also forces students to develop strong study skills. They learn to work hard and manage their time effectively as they prepare for at least six subject exams over a two-year period.
This kind of sustained effort builds character and resilience, helping students to develop a sense of self-discipline and self-motivation that will serve them well in the future. Also, the Leaving Cert system provides a clear path for students who wish to pursue higher education.
Students know exactly what they need to achieve to get into their desired course. They have two years to prepare for the exams, and they know that the exam is the same for every student. They can work hard and focus on their studies without worrying about any external factors.
4. Helps students learn new study techniques
The Leaving Cert also allows students to experiment with different study techniques and to develop their own style of learning. Some students may find that they prefer mind maps or other visual aids, while others may prefer to record information and listen back to it later.
With so much information to learn, students have no choice but to try different approaches until they find what works best for them. In the end, this process helps students to develop their own unique learning strategies that they can use throughout their lives.
Once the Leaving Cert is over, there is a great sense of accomplishment and pride that comes with having completed such a challenging exam. Every Irish generation has sat the Leaving Cert, so it is a shared experience that can bring people together across different age groups and backgrounds.
It is also an opportunity for students to compete on a national level and to see where they stand in relation to their peers from all over the country. The Leaving Cert is a test of both intelligence and conscientiousness, and it gives students a chance to measure themselves against others and to see how they stack up.
4 Major Disadvantages Of The Leaving Cert System
1. Fails to consider students' soft skills
One issue with the Leaving Cert system is its narrow focus on academic achievement. Colleges base their selection of students for particular courses solely on the number of points they accumulate in the Leaving Cert. This metric can become all-consuming for students, who may neglect other aspects of their lives.
While the Leaving Cert is a good measure of IQ and conscientiousness, it fails to consider a student's ability in creativity, empathy, emotional intelligence, and other soft skills that are equally essential in life. Consequently, some students who may excel in real-life social scenarios may not score as well on the test, while others who lack those vital skills may perform better.
Furthermore, the Leaving Cert can be detrimental to students who do not excel academically. Written exams may not be the forte of some students, but unfortunately, this is not taken into account during college admissions. This is an unfortunate side effect of the state exam, where some brilliant candidates for jobs may not test well, leading to the possibility of them being overlooked.
It is the nature of the beast that some people may not be suited to the requirements of the test. While the Leaving Cert has its advantages, such as a standardised assessment and the ability to simulate the demands of college exam revision, it also has its limitations.
The focus on academic achievement may neglect the development of other essential skills, and the test may not accurately reflect the abilities of some students. Thus, it is crucial to evaluate the Leaving Cert system and make necessary changes to ensure that it is fair and inclusive to all students.
2. High-stakes nature of the exams
The Leaving Cert is, by definition, a high-stakes exam. It is the be-all and end-all in terms of getting selected for your ideal college course. As a result, this creates a lot of pressure and stress for students. If students aren't equipped with the right strategies to deal with the stress, that can lead to mental health problems and burnout.
3. Limits students' creativity
The Leaving Cert isn't a measurement of creativity. Therefore, students who are naturally creative don't get a chance to shine in this regard. This is a shame, as creativity can be one of the biggest advantages that a person can have if they end up working in a competitive industry. It can also be a double-edged sword too, but that's for another time!
4. Limits students' choices
The Leaving Cert can also narrow your view about the different ways to learn. There is a very specific way to study for the Leaving Cert that optimises your time and results (such as this way for Maths). Due to this fact, a lot of other approaches get left by the wayside. This leads to a very singular approach to education, and for some people, this can turn them away from education afterwards.
Some people fall out of love with learning due to only being exposed to one way of learning, which doesn't suit them. Teachers can end up focusing on results and not capturing the student's attention with the content on its own merit. This can have a massive long-term effect in terms of their engagement with books, podcasts, and educational sources in general, as they become jaded with the LC approach.
Our Esteemed View On The Leaving Cert System
The Leaving Cert is still the best approach out there, despite its flaws. The exam's tough nature gives students the opportunity to grow and meet the challenge head-on. The Leaving Cert tests for the traits most likely to signal a student's ability to succeed in their college course: IQ and conscientiousness.
While other parts of a person are crucial such as Emotional Intelligence, social skills, etc., these are best separated from an exam focused on raw intelligence and fortitude. In our opinion, the Leaving Cert, while flawed, is still the best approach out there. It's very hard to cheat, it's the same for everyone, and it does a great job of measuring IQ and conscientiousness.
Pressure creates diamonds, and giving students a tough task to face, gives them the opportunity to grow and meet the challenge head-on. The focus should be on giving students the tools to take on the challenge. Making the exam easier opens up the chance that deserving students get mixed up with the rest since it's harder to tell the best apart.
Having parts like projects completed away from the exam centre opens the door to more mischief. We know this all too well since we're one of the places students come to get an edge for their projects! It makes no competitive sense not to seek external help if the opportunity is available because if you don't and others do, you're at a disadvantage.
That's why it's important to take that burden out of the students' hands and leave it at the feet of the state examination. It's also important to have the exams sat in controlled exam halls. Personally, we'd have no issue with continuous assessment once it's guaranteed to be carried out in exam halls. Cheating in a classroom setting is too easy, and we know this from personal experience.
In addition, we need to ensure the burden of correction is taken out of the hands of the teachers. Correcting your own students will naturally lead to point inflation, as we've already seen. Teachers have a naturally agreeable personality dimension, so they are more likely to score their own students highly. Once the continuous assessment exams are corrected by a neutral corrector, we'll be in the clear.
The last key point to make is that the Leaving Cert actually tests for the traits most likely to signal a student's ability to succeed in their college course: IQ and conscientiousness. Studies have shown and explained how these are the best predictors of success and why that's the case. While it seems possible to have a test that measures creativity, it's difficult to design such a test.
Overall, we feel that the LC, while a tough set of exams, is the best option currently available. If there is a way to incorporate continuous assessment while keeping the exam hall-style setting, we'd have the perfect blend.
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