Leaving and Junior Certificate students will be given a wider choice of questions in next year's State exam papers due to the time missed from school due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
For example, English exams will have a larger choice of poets to select from and fewer mandatory questions.
“The idea is that a student who has completed, say, 75-80 per cent of the course, will still be able to complete the exam without losing out,” a source told
“It means there will be a greater focus on individual sections of the curriculum in questions and less emphasis on combining learning from different areas, or asking students to compare and contrast from different parts of the course.”
The changes are designed to ensure that students who do not complete the full curriculum will not be punished in exams.
This has been chosen as the fairest solution to the time that will be missed due to Covid-19 restrictions.
Officials from the State Examinations Commission and the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, along with Department of Education officials, are preparing a guidance document for both teachers and students.
