Junior Cycle Profile of Achievement (JCPA)

As part of the Framework for Junior Cycle (2015) the reporting process at Junior Cycle culminates in the award of the Junior Cycle Profile of Achievement (JCPA) to students. The JCPA was awarded for the first time to students who completed Junior Cycle in 2017. 2022 is the first time all of the new Junior Cycle specifications have been introduced and the JCPA from this year includes achievements in respect of those specifications. The school will be required to print out the JCPA for each student. It will report on student achievement across a broad range of areas of learning in Junior Cycle. The JCPA, alongside other reporting arrangements in Junior Cycle, will offer students/teachers/ parents/guardians a clear, broad picture of a child’s learning journey over the three years of junior cycle.

The JCPA captures student achievements in a number of assessment elements undertaken over the three years of junior cycle, including the grades in the state-certified final examinations at the end of the three years. It will also report on students’ achievement in Classroom-Based Assessments (CBAs) in subjects and short courses, and in Level 2 Learning Programmes (L2LPs) and achievements in Level 1 Learning Programmes (L1LPs). The JCPA also includes reporting on Wellbeing.

The JCPA will also provide an opportunity for schools to comment on student achievement, participation or progress in other areas of learning that may have been included in the school’s Junior Cycle programme.

In the majority of cases, the JCPA will report on student achievement relating to subjects and short courses that are broadly aligned with Level 3 of the National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ).

In some cases, the JCPA may report on achievement for students in the low mild to high moderate range of general learning disabilities where the educational needs of these students are such as to prevent them from accessing some or all of the junior cycle Level 3 subjects and short courses. These students may be engaging with/participating in Level 2 Learning Programmes, or part thereof, which are broadly aligned with Level 2 of the NFQ.

Level 1 Learning Programmes are now available to schools and will address the learning needs of a very small number of students in the low moderate, and severe and profound range of general learning disabilities. These students will, in almost all cases, be enrolled in special schools rather than mainstream schools. This is the first year students undertaking Level 1 Learning Programmes will be awarded on the JCPA.