Education Minister Norma Foley has confirmed that the Cabinet has agreed that this year's Leaving Certificate and Junior Cycle will be held as exams only.
Minister Foley has rejected calls for a hybrid style Leaving Cert despite calls from students and Opposition parties.
Students will sit their exams in June but there will be “radical changes,” Minister Foley said.
She said: “There will now be considerable choice on the paper and less content required to be studied.”
For example, she explained students would normally have to answer 10 questions on their maths paper but now they will only answer six.
She said on the Higher Level English paper two exam there are normally three questions that students need to answer but they now will only be required to answer two.
She said the changes go beyond the exam papers themselves and students will also only have to study 10 Sraith Pictiúr instead of 20.
The Junior Cycle exams will also take place for the first time since 2019.
Minister Foley said there was not enough data for accredited grades this year due to one in four students “through no fault of their own” without results of a Junior Cert exam.
Minister Foley also said there is a plan to address the inflation of grades which caused significant disruption and saw some students receiving top marks but missed out on their college place.
She said the profile of grades received by students in this year's exams will be similar to that of last year.
Therefore, a similar number of H1s, H2s etc should be awarded to students this year compared to 2021.
The Department hopes this will address a key concern of this year's students by which they are competing for college places against students from last year who received bumper grades.
Minister Foley also confirmed that an alternative set of Leaving Cert exams will be held following the main set of exams to provide for students who may experience a close family bereavement or Covid-19 illness.
Minister Foley also said “there is a commitment” that the wearing of face masks for children in school will be reviewed in advance of the end of this month “which is important.”
She said close contact rules will also be reviewed subject to public health advice for children aged 12-15 years who are fully vaccinated.
Minister Foley said schools are “progressing well” when asked about an update on the transmission of Covid-19 in schools.
