Leaving Cert students study 4 hours a night

MORE than one in three Leaving Certificate students study for more than four hours a day during exam year because of increased pressure to get enough points for college courses.

A study of school-leavers found that almost half take grinds in their final year to prepare for the exams.

It also emerged that the ability to get high grades and points for college is a bigger influence on subject choice at the start of the Leaving Certificate cycle than an interest in studying the subject.

The Economic and Social Research Institute tracked more than 900 students at 12 schools since the start of their second-level education.

Its latest report on their progress through sixth year highlights the stresses placed on students to get as many points as possible.

Girls feel the strain more than boys: 40% spend at least four hours a night on homework and study, compared to 30% of their male counterparts.

Many students with high aspirations expressed frustration with teachers who did not focus enough on exam preparation. Students also expected a focus on what is likely to come up on the exam papers.

However, the emphasis on the final written exams could be about to end if any of a range of reforms being debated at a conference in Dublin today come to fruition.

Education Minister Ruairí Quinn asked the heads of second and third-level education systems, including those setting syllabi and exams, to devise proposals to reduce the pressures of the points race and to allow schools to steer away from the rote learning and exam-focused teaching that exists now.

Institutes of Technology Ireland said a much longer academic year should be considered for first-year students in college.

“It seems somewhat churlish to be attaching blame to the second-level system when the academic year is so short,” said the representative body of presidents in the institute of technology sector.

It also suggested that students’ grades in English and maths should be included in calculating points for all third-level courses instead of counting each applicant’s best six Leaving Certificate results.