TEACHERS claim a drop in standards and numbers taking the Leaving Certificate Applied is a direct consequence of cutbacks in schools.

THE most vulnerable students will suffer the hardest from the latest round of education cutbacks detailed in the Government’s four-year national recovery plan, it has been claimed.

MORE than 14,000 students sat the Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme this year with almost 2,000 awarded distinctions, and more than 7,000 receiving merits.

FEWER Leaving Certificate students than last year have had grades withheld for cheating or are being investigated in relation to suspected breaches of exam rules.

CHANGES should be made to the Leaving Certificate to allow more students, who are not interested in the points race, to reach their potential, teachers and business leaders said last night.

A NUMBER of cheating students had results withheld for copying material directly from websites and other sources for part of the Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme (LCVP), an analysis of the last two years’ papers revealed.