Senior Cycle Redevelopment – What it means for me

The Minister for Education has announced a vision for the redevelopment of Senior Cycle education in Ireland.

Full details of the latest update are available at the following link: Minister Foley announces update to Senior Cycle Redevelopment

This page illustrates the impact this announcement will have on current students, depending on when they begin fifth year.

President of the Irish Second–Level Students' Union (ISSU), Shari Irfan interviews the Deputy Chief Inspector, Orlaith O’Connor on what the changes to Senior Cycle mean for students.

If you began fifth year in 2023, the Minister’s announcement of 20 September 2023 will not impact you. You can find further information on the current Leaving Certificate curriculum on the National Council of Curriculum and Assessment website curriculumonline.ie

If you are an LCA student, please see “I am a Leaving Certificate Applied student/I will be a Leaving Certificate Applied student” section below.

If you are due to start fifth year in 2024, the Minister’s announcement of 20 September 2023 will not impact you. You can find further information on the current Leaving Certificate curriculum on the National Council of Curriculum and Assessment website: curriculumonline.ie

If you will be entering Fifth Year as an LCA student, please see “I am a Leaving Certificate Applied student/I will be a Leaving Certificate Applied student” section below.

If you are due to start fifth year in 2025, the following changes apply to you:

• The following subjects will have a revised curriculum (called ‘specifications’): Business, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Arabic, Latin, and Ancient Greek (Tranche 1 subjects).
• These subjects will feature an externally assessed component(s).
• Additional component(s) will not be a traditional written exam.
• Additional component(s) will be externally assessed by the State Examinations Commission.
• Two new subjects will be introduced in some to schools in 2025. For later years, it will be introduced to more schools on a phased basis. These subjects are (1) Drama, Film and Theatre Studies, and (2) Climate Action and Sustainable Development. If your school becomes one of those in the first phase of schools to offer either of these subjects, you may be able to avail of them.

If you will be entering fifth year as an LCA student, please see “I am a Leaving Certificate Applied student/I will be a Leaving Certificate Applied student” section below

If you are starting fifth year in 2026, or after, the following changes apply to you:

• The following subjects will have revised curriculum: Business; Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Arabic, Latin, and Ancient Greek (Tranche 1 subjects).
• More revised subjects will also be available to you. These will be announced once a final schedule setting out the phases over which all subjects will be revised is published. This webpage will be updated once this schedule is available.
• These subjects will feature an externally assessed component(s).
• Additional component(s) will not be a traditional written exam.
• Additional component(s) will be externally assessed by the State Examinations Commission.
• Two new subjects, first launched in 2025, will continue to be introduced on a phased basis. These subjects are (1) Drama, Film and Theatre Studies, and (2) Climate Action and Sustainable Development. If your school is in the second or later phase of schools to offer either of these subjects, you may be able to avail of them.

Your teachers and school will be given the support and training to introduce these subjects and help prepare you for the additional components and the examination.

If you will be entering fifth year as an LCA student, please see “I am a Leaving Certificate Applied student/I will be a Leaving Certificate Applied student” section below.

If you are entering fifth year as a Leaving Certificate Applied (LCA) student from 2023 onwards, the following applies to you:

• You may now access LCE Mathematics and an LCE Modern Foreign Language (MFL), subject to your school’s timetabling
• You may study LCE Mathematics either in addition to LCA Mathematical Applications, or instead of LCA Mathematical Applications.
• You may study an LCE MFL in addition to the LCA programme.
• An updated LCA Programme Statement reflecting these changes is available at curriculumonline.ie.

Your school is responsible for the timetabling of the changes above and for identifying, along with you and your parents/guardians, the current Leaving Certificate programmes best suited to you.

Your ability to engage with LCE Mathematics and/or the LCE MFL will be central to decisions relating to your access to the subject.

If you are entering fifth year as a Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme (LCVP) student from 2023 onwards, the following applies to you:

• You can now access the LCVP Link Modules (Preparation for the World of Work and Enterprise Education) without meeting the vocational subject grouping criteria or the Modern European Language (MEL) requirements set out in Circular Letter 0040/2013.
• All other requirements for participation in the LCVP continue to apply, including the Irish language requirement.
• An updated LCVP Programme Statement reflecting these changes is available at the following link: curriculumonline.ie

Your school is responsible for the timetabling of the changes above and for identifying, along with you and your parents/guardians, the current Leaving Certificate programmes best suited to you.

If you are entering fifth year in 2025 or later as an LCVP student, additional changes to the Leaving Certificate will apply to you. Please see ''I am starting fifth year in 2025” or “I am a starting fifth year in 2026 or later” sections of this webpage, as applicable.

Level 1 and Level 2 Learning Programmes

The Minister requested the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) to develop Senior Cycle Level 1 and Level 2 Learning Programmes (L1/L2LPs)

A draft Programme Statement and new modules Level 1 and Level 2 learning programme are now open for public consultation until 10 April 2024 available here; L1/ L2 Consultation