What is this I’ve heard about Leaving Cert students facing oral exams in English?
Yes, Leaving Cert students sitting the English exam in future are likely to face oral tests at the end of fifth year where they will quizzed on plays or books they have studied, under draft plans.
Students will be expected to compare texts and “make connections, gain insights, synthesise and evaluate ideas” in an assessment worth 20 per cent.
A separate creative writing project will be worth 20 per cent while the traditional written exams will change from two papers to one, worth 60 per cent.
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Who has come up with these plans?
They were drafted by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA), the State advisory body tasked with redeveloping the senior cycle. The NCCA includes subject development groups, which it says are typically made up of 50-70 per cent of practising teachers.
What kind of questions will they be asked in the oral exam?
The oral is intended to allow students to compare texts from a prescribed list. This may include novels, plays, films or documentaries.
The assessment will focus on the student’s ability to engage in “meaningful, two-way communication, using English appropriately and effectively to negotiate meaning”.
Comparisons and insights developed by the student will be the focus of discussion with the examiner.
Who is going to conduct these assessments?
They will be externally assessed by an examiner, in the same way that Irish, French and German orals are conducted.
Earlier Leaving Cert reform proposals involved teachers assessing their own students for projects, but these plans have been shelved in the face of opposition from teachers’ unions.
What’s the rationale for the changes?
Senior cycle reforms are aimed at easing stress facing students in the traditional high-stakes Leaving Cert written exams and providing a broader assessment of students’ skills and competencies.
The then minister for education Norma Foley requested the changes on foot of several years of research and consultation reports on the senior cycle. The current Minister for Education, Helen McEntee, says she wants to progress the reforms.
Why include an oral exam as part of the changes?
The NCCA’s draft specification for the new English exam says the “classroom is an inclusive space for discussion, debate and argument”.
It says the ability to communicate is vital for students preparing to take an active role in the world around them – a “world where they will ask critical questions, interrogate opinions, respond and engage empathetically, create imaginatively, formulate reasoned responses and work collaboratively”.
How will teachers respond to these planned changes?
It is early days: some have already responded positively, others have voiced concerns.
Teaching unions, meanwhile, want to pause wider senior cycle reforms amid “grave concern” that aspects of the plans pose a threat to education standards, fairness and quality.
They also have voiced alarm over the potential use of artificial intelligence (AI) by students and difficulties authenticating students’ work.
The Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland (ASTI) wants teachers to be indemnified from any legal actions that may arise over students’ misuse of AI.
[ Explainer: Why are teachers worried about AI and the Leaving Cert?Opens in new window ]
What kind of cheating risk will AI pose to these changes in English?
The proposed oral exam in English is as AI-proof an assessment as you’re likely to find. It reflects what many universities are doing by ditching traditional essays and asking for more oral presentations.
The creative writing project is likely to be more vulnerable to cheating, but students will be requested to produce drafts of their work over time and complete them under teacher supervision.
When will all these changes happen?
There is a consultation process under way led by the NCCA aimed at allowing students, teachers and other stakeholders to have their voices heard.
Once the new specification is agreed, changes would come into force for students entering fifth year in September 2026.
