Press release
Minister Foley welcomes publication of 12 new and revised Leaving Certificate subjects and Senior Cycle programmes
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Minister for Education Norma Foley TD has today welcomed the publication of 12 new and revised Leaving Certificate subjects and Senior Cycle Programmes. This is part of the Senior Cycle redevelopment which the Minister announced in March 2022 and which she accelerated in September last year.
The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) has published curriculum specifications for nine Senior Cycle subjects. This includes Biology, Physics, Chemistry and Business and two new subjects, Drama Film and Theatre Studies and Climate Action and Sustainable Development.
A new Transition Year Programme Statement and a new Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE) specification for Senior Cycle have also been published, as well as the first ever Level 1 and 2 Learning Programmes in Senior Cycle for certain students with special educational needs.
The new and revised subjects will be introduced into schools next year, for fifth year students starting the 2025/2026 school year. The new Level 1 and Level 2 Learning Programmes and associated modules, revised Transition Year Statement and a new Senior Cycle Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE) specification are available from this school year for implementation in schools.
Minister Foley said:
“This is another very positive step forward in terms of advancing Senior Cycle Reform. There are nine new and revised subjects that students will experience from August/September next year. Each subject will have an additional assessment component worth at least 40 per cent of the marks. The aim is that our students will have an opportunity to showcase their talents and ability and also to reduce the stress on them by moving away from the focus on one single exam day in June.”
“I am particularly pleased to see the new subjects of Drama, Film and Theatre Studies and Climate Action and Sustainable Development being published today. These subjects will offer students a new learning experience and avenue to demonstrate their talents and develop key competencies. The most recent new subjects – Physical Education and Computer Science – have proven very attractive to students as the numbers selecting these subjects have grown each year. I am sure the latest new subjects will be equally successful and I want to wish the best of luck to the 100 schools around the country who have been selected to be in the first group of schools to offer the subjects from next year.”
The selected schools are to be announced shortly.
Minister Foley thanked the NCCA Council, its Executive and the teachers, academics and subject experts on the various Development Groups and the school staff, students and parents who provided views during the public consultation processes for the new and revised subjects.
The commitment to deliver Equity and Excellence for All in Senior Cycle is the guiding principle behind the new and revised subjects and programmes and builds on the desire for reform in Senior Cycle shared by students and all the education partners.
The updated Transition Year Programme Statement published today will replace the current Transition Year Guidelines for Schools document which was introduced in schools in 1994.
The updated SPHE curriculum for Senior Cycle will support 60 hours of teaching and learning over two years, reflecting the importance of SPHE for young people at this stage in their post-primary education.
The Level 1 and 2 Learning Programmes for certain students with special educational needs up to Junior Cycle have now been extended to Senior Cycle level for the first time. The first Senior Cycle Level 1 and 2 Modules are now available and cover areas of learning such as communication, language, literacy and numeracy.
In a major innovation, the State Examinations Commission (SEC) will provide certification for the L1/L2 programmes for students who successfully complete the modules.
Today’s publication of the first tranche of development work allows the NCCA, the State Examinations Commission (SEC) and Oide (the integrated teacher support service) to advance their implementation support work and to move into helping schools and teachers to prepare for the teaching of the new curricula and programmes. Work is also advancing on subsequent tranches of subject and module revision with each tranche planned for delivery in schools on an annual basis from next year. Tranche 2 development work is well underway and the NCCA will convene Subject Development Groups for Tranche 3 at the end of this month.
The specifications and related programme documents approved and published today are available here and are as follows:
• Leaving Certificate Biology specification
• Leaving Certificate Chemistry specification
• Leaving Certificate Physics specification
• Leaving Certificate Business specification
• Leaving Certificate Drama, Film and Theatre Studies specification
• Leaving Certificate Climate Action and Sustainable Development
• Leaving Certificate Arabic
• Leaving Certificate Latin
• Leaving Certificate Ancient Greek
• Level 1 and Level 2 Learning Programmes Statement and 14 modules
• An amended version of the Transition Year Programme Statement
• Senior Cycle Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE) curriculum specification
Details of each of the subsequent tranches of subject and module redevelopment is available here .
The specifications for the nine Leaving Certificate Established subjects published today will be implemented in schools for fifth years from the next school year (2025/26), commencing in August\September 2025.
Transition Year (TY) was first introduced on a pilot basis in September 1974 and has been available to all post-primary schools since September 1994.
At present, virtually all schools (99%) offer the Transition Year programme and the number of students doing Transition Year has never been higher. Close to 60,000 students were enrolled in Transition Year programmes in the 2023/2024 school year and the percentage of Junior Cycle students entering TY has risen consistently over the previous number of years to its current high of 80% in 2023/2024. The participation rate has doubled from twenty years ago when only 40% of students progressed from Third Year into Transition Year.
The updated Programme Statement published today will replace the current Transition Year Guidelines for Schools document which were introduced in schools in 1994.
Over the 2024/25 school year, all schools will have the opportunity to audit their current Transition Year offering and should revise it where necessary in line with the Programme Statement published today. The Department’s Inspectorate will support and provide advice to schools in this regard during the 2024/25 school year. Schools will also be supported in their planning by Oide, the newly integrated teacher support service.
The Programme Statement provides a framework for schools to develop their own Transition Year programmes within set guidelines and advocates four Student Dimensions as the core foundations upon which Transition Year programmes should be designed. The four Student Dimensions centre on personal growth; being a learner; civic and community engagement, and career development respectively. These four Student Dimensions are designed to interlock in such a way that together they intersect with the Key Competencies of Senior Cycle.
The Minister has approved an updated SPHE curriculum for Senior Cycle. The specification is designed as a mandatory component to support 60 hours of teaching and learning over two years, reflecting the importance of SPHE for young people at this stage in their post-primary education.
It is recognised that while all schools must provide Relationship Sexuality Education at Senior Cycle currently, many schools do not provide SPHE in Senior Cycle and this means significant preparatory work is needed to support schools in introducing the specification and making arrangements on the timetable etc. For this reason, schools have until September 2027 (or earlier at their discretion) to introduce the specification for students entering fifth year, with the exception of students following the Leaving Certificate Applied (see below). This provides continuity with the Junior Cycle SPHE specification for the first post-Transition Year cohort of students to have completed that. The timeline will be subject to the necessary preparatory work in relation to provision of teacher education and resources, and consideration of other practical issues including timetabling.
The new specification will replace Social Education modules I and II of the Leaving Certificate Applied. It is planned that this change will apply for all LCA students entering 5th year in 2025.
Senior Cycle 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) for students in mainstream schools, special schools, and other settings, whose needs and abilities may prevent them from accessing the Leaving Certificate Established (LCE) programme, the Leaving Certificate Applied (LCA) programme, or the Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme (LCVP).
The introduction of Senior Cycle L1/L2LPs will provide enhanced options so that students can follow the pathways that are most appropriate to their needs. In particular, the Senior Cycle L1/L2LPs will provide greater options for students who currently follow the equivalent Junior Cycle Programmes.
Level 2 Learning Programmes (L2LPs) and Level 1 Learning Programmes (L1LPs) were introduced at Junior Cycle in 2015 and 2018 respectively. As part of the Minister’s announcement in respect of Senior Cycle Redevelopment in March 2022, the Minister announced that follow-on programmes would be made available so that all students would have access to an appropriate Senior Cycle.
The initial curriculum areas and modules for the Senior Cycle Level 1 and Level 2 Learning Programmes are now available, and schools that are in a position to do so may choose to offer them in school year 2024/25.
The NCCA will shortly commence work to develop and provide guidance to schools on the development of personalised learning programmes for students, as well on practical arrangements for the introduction of the programmes relating to timetabling, assessment and validation (in conjunction with the SEC).
Professional learning to support the introduction of the programmes will be provided by Oide.