Junior Cycle 2022

The State Examinations Commission has released the timetables for the 2022 certificate examinations which will commence on Wednesday 8 June. The Leaving Certificate examinations will run until Tuesday 28 June, the Leaving Certificate Applied examinations will conclude on Thursday 16 June and the Junior Cycle examinations will conclude on Monday 20 June.

Information on the Junior Cycle and Leaving Certificate examinations, including regular updates throughout the examinations period, is available from the website of the State Examinations Commission http://www.examinations.ie/ The phone number for all enquiries is 090 6442700.

Throughout the written examinations period (8th to 28th June 2022), staff members are on hand to deal with queries from 8.30am to 9.00pm on examination days and from 9.30am to 1.00pm at weekends. Outside of these hours contact may be made through the main number 090 6442700 and a brief message can be left with the security staff.

There are significant changes to the scheduling of the Junior Cycle examinations this year with the introduction of Common Level in all subjects except for Irish, English and Mathematics.

Junior Cycle examinations will take place this summer having been last held in summer 2019. The examinations which take place this year will see all new Junior Cycle subject specifications being examined for the first time, with the exceptions of English, Science and Business which were previously examined; English from 2017 – 2019 and Science and Business for the first time in 2019.

The timetables may be accessed at www.examinations.ie.

The Minister for Education Norma Foley TD on 1 February announced that the Junior Cycle examinations will take place this summer, for the first time since 2019. She also announced extensive changes to the Leaving Certificate written examinations. You can read the full statement here.

A number of adjustments to the assessment arrangements for Junior Cycle have been published in recent months, to take account of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and will provide for more teaching time in schools. These include the following:

• As part of Junior Cycle, students normally complete two classroom-based assessments (CBAs) in each subject. Students in third year in the current school year, however, have had to complete a minimum of only one CBA in each subject
• Schools have autonomy in deciding which CBAs will be completed by students, with two exceptions. In the case of the languages and practical subjects the CBA that students complete is specified because it is linked to the externally assessed practical examination
• As CBAs are school-based assessments, as well as extending the windows for completion of CBAs, schools have been advised that there are flexibilities in the CBA windows in light of particular circumstances schools may encounter due to COVID-19
• The Assessment Task, which is usually assessed and marked by the State Examinations Commission, will not be assessed in 2022 in the relevant subjects. Instead the written examination will account for 100% of the marks
• Adjustments have been made to the requirements for practicals and coursework in subjects including for example, Music, Home Economics, Visual Art and the Technologies.

In September 2021, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) published the revised arrangements for Classroom-Based Assessments for students entering third year in 2021, and these are available here.

More details regarding the Junior Cycle 2022 examinations will be published here as they becomes available.

The State Examinations Commission will publish the timetable for the examinations on its website examinations.ie this week.

Wellbeing in education

• Further information: Junior Cycle Certificate of Completion 2021
• Leaving Certificate 2022