Should the Leaving Cert be scrapped?

The examination at the end of secondary school has been an integral part of Irish education for generations and is deeply embedded within Irish culture. 

But is it time for radical change?

Labour TD Aodhán Ó Ríordáin said he favours a “level of reform” that would less emphasis on written exams. 

“I’ve always had the view that the Leaving Cert is outdated,” he told Lunchtime Live. 

“It’s a relic of the past and during the pandemic, it was proven that we could find alternative ways for assessing young people at the end of their senior cycle years. 

“It hasn’t really changed since I did it 30 years ago.”

Pupils at Beneavin De La Salle College, Finglas,.

Deputy Ó Ríordáin said he still remembers sitting his exams and the impact the stress they had on him.

“I think anybody listening to this who has gone through the Leaving Cert can probably tell you how it brings up pretty bad memories,” he said. 

“Pretty negative memories of a particular subject; mine was biology, which I’m still pretty traumatised by.

“The level of stress it puts on young people is completely unfair.” 

Receiving their results at Schull Community College. Credit: Andy Gibson/Alamy Live News

On the question of fairness, Deputy Ó Ríordáin believes it is also a system that is weighted in favour of the wealthy. 

“It can be bought,” he said. 

“Grind schools have perfected the mechanism of allowing families and individuals with more resources to acquire notes to get grinds, to work their way around the system.” 

However, one Lunchtime Live listener from Galway said he thought the current system has an important benefit to it. 

“I think it’s really good that the Leaving Cert has that open ended nature that you can pick something after the Leaving Cert and you don’t have to specialise when you’re at a younger age like they do in the UK,” Pádraig said. 

“I don’t necessarily think the system they have in the North is any better than what we have here. 

“I don’t think specialising early is necessarily a good thing. 

“I’m in my second year of college now but I did a different course last year and I’ve switched into another one this year.

“I still don’t know what I want to do [and] I definitely didn’t when I was in fourth, fifth year of school.”

Roughly 60,000 teenagers sit the Leaving Certificate every year.

Main image: Students receive their Leaving Cert results at Trinity Comprehensive School in Ballymun, Dublin in 2019. Picture by: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie