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Junior Certificate

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The Junior Certificate Examination (commonly referred to simply as the Junior Cert) replaced the Intermediate Certificate Examination (Inter Cert) in Ireland in 1992 and is accredited by the State Examinations Commission. The Junior Certificate is taken in a secondary school student's third year and not before age 14. A student usually takes between 10 and 11 subjects, including Maths, English, Irish and a foreign langauge. The examination does not reach the standards for college or university entrance, instead a school leaver in Ireland will typically take the Leaving Certificate Examination two to three years after completion of the Junior Certificate.

The Junior Cert Course

The Courses

The Junior Cert course takes 3 years to complete. They are the first three years at second level education. Students will usually spend the first 2 years covering the course and much of the third revising, and preparing for the exam. Courses are quite broad - for example the Business studies course covers business organisation, marketing, economics, accounting and several other areas. The Leaving Cert exam by comparision is much more specific.

Subjects available

The following is a list of all options available for the Junior Certificate. Many schools only offer a small subset of these options. Mandatory subjects are in bold, levels are in brackets.

*Subject exclusions - candidates may not take any of following subject combinations

In the case of Irish, students not resident in Ireland for more than 7 years are exempt from the taking the subject.

The Examination

The exam takes place after 3 years of the course, usually in early June. The exams always start with English, then the other main subjects and finally finish with the subjects that have the fewest candidates. The exams can take the form of written papers, aurals, orals, practicals and marks from course work assignments (such as in CSPE, where 40% of the exam rests on an action project). Exams are usually 2-3hrs long, most subjects are one paper only (i.e. they are taken in a single session), however 4 subjects have two papers at higher level - Irish, English, Maths and Business.

Levels

At Junior Cert, students can take the exams at 3 levels. They are:

  • Higher (also called Honors) - most students take higher.
  • Ordinary (also called Pass) - common in subjects like English, Irish and Maths - rarer in other subjects (1 in 10 or so).
  • Foundation - quite rare - only taken if a student is very weak in a particular subject (such as a non-native speaker taking Foundation English). Foundation is only available is the core subjects (English, Irish, Maths).

In CSPE, there are no seperate levels, all students take the same (common) level.

After the Junior Certificate, if a student has taken Ordinary level, he/she cannot take Higher level at Leaving Certificate level.

Grading

Grades are awarded as follows:

  • 85% or over => A
  • 70% but less than 85% => B
  • 55% but less than 70% => C
  • 40% but less than 55% => D
  • 25% but less than 40% => E
  • 10% but less than 25% => F
  • Less than 10% => No Grade

Anything over 55% is described as an 'honor'. Marking schemes are freely available to students before exams - however at Junior Cert level, exam papers are not returned after the exam. If a candidate feels he/she has been unfairly marked, they can have the paper rechecked (for a fee of 30 euro).

Irish

In the Junior Certificate candidates have the option of answering either in Irish or in English (except in the case of the subjects Irish and English and questions in other language subjects). A candidate who answers in Irish at the written examination in certain subjects will be given bonus marks in addition to the marks gained in the subject. Bonus marks are awarded at the rate of between 3-10% of the marks obtained.

After the Exam

Results

Results are released in mid-September. The Junior Certificate (and more so, the Leaving Certificate) results take centerplace in the Irish media for the week surrounding their release. The newspapers publish various statistics about the exam and cover high achievers (usually 4 or 5 get 11 As). Schools generally give students (who have received their results) the day off and Junior Cert discos are organised in most towns. These discos have come under criticism lately due to large amounts of underage drinking.

Drop-Outs

Althought school attendance in Ireland is relatively high - many students drop-out of the education system after completion of the Junior Certificate. Many drop-out to pursue apprenticeships in the various trades such as carpentry, bricklaying, plastering and mechanics. It is estimated that in parts of Dublin, the drop-out rate is as high as 25% - however the rate is much lower on a national basis. Those who stay in the education system sit the Leaving Certificate - the requirement for college entry in Ireland.

Criticism

There has been much criticism in recent years of both the Junior Certificate and the Leaving Certificate courses by several groups in Irish society - teachers, parents, the media and indeed the students themselves. The main criticisms being voiced are:

  • The terminal exam system is claimed by many to be outdated - a system of continuous assessment like that used in Germany is said to be fairer and place less pressure on students than measuring their entire performance in a single exam - in defense terminal examinations allow the student to study a topic completely and coherently rather than attempting to over modularise topics. Also terminal systems allow for greater external examination, in effect external auditing, which is the cornerstone of education in Ireland at all levels.
  • The actual course is claimed by some to be out of date - for example the accounting section of the business course is still done in ledgers - while most accounting today is done in spreadsheets programs such as Microsoft Excel - however the examination intended to provide the student with generic rather than specific skills that would be more appropriately obtained at a higher level such as degree.
  • Some people feel there is a lack of practical examinations in such subjects as science - it should be noted a revised course is currently being introduced - this often leads to a poor motivation in such practical subjects and a poor interest and takeup of science and technology in general at higher education.
  • The system has been accused of failing weaker students, meaning if a student performs poorly from an early stage, there is very little support for him/her to improve - as noted above, students who take lower level exams on the Junior Certificate are discouraged from attempting higher level exams for the Leaving Certificate.
  • The system can tie a person's entire life's success to two exams - if they perform poorly in the Junior Certificate and the Leaving Certificate, the range of career options open to them, including college study, can be much more limited. However compared to the international experience students have a relatively late start in formal examinations, thus the system is not unnecessarily examination or performance oriented, or at least until the mid-teens, often a source of critism in other countries where systems are more tuned for the benefit of the schools standing rather than the student.

See also

References

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