Students and parents welcome reform of exam

Students and parents’ organisations have welcomed the planned overhaul of the Junior Certificates that will move the emphasis away from the final exam.

The Irish Second-level Students’ Union said the presence of standardised tests in core subjects will preserve academic integrity and provides a clear statement on the importance of science. Second year students will take standardised tests in English reading and maths, and in Irish at all-Irish schools, with standardised tests in science added from 2016.

“In our consultation work with students last year, they were unequivocal in their support of the key themes of the new junior cycle,” said its president Dylan Grace.