John Conneely, a physics teacher at St Flannan’s College in Ennis, Co Clare, is alarmed.
He is, he stresses, not against reform or reimagining how we assess students. It’s that he feels plans for the Leaving Cert risk undermining education standards, eroding fairness for students and placing teachers in an “impossible” position.
Under reforms due to roll out for fifth years in September, students will be required to complete research projects worth 40 per cent during the school year, while the traditional written exams in June will be worth the remaining 60 per cent.
These senior cycle reforms are aimed at easing the stress facing students nd providing a broader assessment of students’ skills and competencies.
Biology, physics and chemistry are among the first subjects to be reformed, while others will follow over the coming years.
In an era when artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT can generate convincing-looking essays and reports within minutes, is there a way to guarantee these projects will really be the work of students?
“It will be practically impossible for teachers to authenticate the work of each student,” says Conneely. “There are no legal protections or supports provided for teachers – or principals – who may have suspicions about the authenticity of the work and [this] leaves them open to litigation should they make a claim.
[ Leaving Cert 2025 students will lose out due to grade deflation, but by how much?Opens in new window ]
“We won’t be able to police this, it’s impossible. We feel we’re thrown under a bus because we’re being asked to do something we can’t ... We live in small school communities. If a teacher suspects a student is cheating it’s very difficult for them to prove it. The burden of responsibility is huge.”
Concerns among teachers over senior cycle changes – the most ambitious in half a century – look set to dominate the annual gatherings of second level teachers’ unions this week.
The Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland (ASTI) and the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) want “accelerated” changes due to come into force for fifth year students in September to be paused amid wider concerns over equity and exam integrity.
Imagine a student being asked to demonstrate how to play their guitar through a written report? It would be ridiculous and useless from an educational point of view
— Teacher Adrienne Healy
They say more time is needed to consult them over changes, properly resource science labs and address concerns over how to authenticate students’ work.
Among the motions to be debated are calls for an indemnity for teachers from any resulting legal actions as well as calls for union members to cease co-operation with the introduction of the reforms.
Minster for Education Helen McEntee, however, has pledged to push ahead with the changes on the basis that students should not have to wait longer for the planned changes which she says have been in the works for up to decade.
“The Leaving Cert has served students well but this is about making sure we support students and reduce the amount of pressure they are under,” she told the Dáil recently.
“Currently, the focus is on one exam at the end that can often go wrong for students. We need to take away that significant pressure and make sure there is an additional focus on critical and creative thinking and other types of skills. Leaving Cert reform is central to how we do this.”
[ Leaving Cert reforms to press ahead this year despite union oppositionOpens in new window ]
McEntee says she is working with schools, teachers and students to introduce the changes supported by a comprehensive package of support.
Training, she says, has already been taken up by 26,000 teachers, while a total of €12 million has been provided to schools to support the introduction of new science subjects.
Other preparation has involved the State Examinations Commission which recently published sample exam papers for each of the new subjects, while sample briefs for new research projects or additional assessment components worth 40 per cent will be provided by the commission at the start of the next school year.
In relation to concerns over the use of AI, the SEC says students’ coursework must be completed under the supervision of a teacher and authenticated as the candidate’s own work by the teacher and school principal.
[ First look: Sample Leaving Cert exam papers for brand new subjectsOpens in new window ]
Under rules in place since 2023, students have been warned that use of tools such as ChatGPT in their project work must be disclosed and failure to do so could result in candidates losing marks, having their results withheld or being debarred from entering State exams. The SEC and the Department of Education, meanwhile, are working on high-level guidance on the use of AI in teaching and learning.
These assurances, however, are doing little to allay the concerns of some teachers.
Adrienne Healy, who teaches biology, science and maths at St Dominic’s College, Cabra, in Dublin, feels a written research project ignores key stills.
While subjects such as languages and music involve a “direct assessment” – such as an oral exam or performance – the research projects will be “indirect” and will not involve students’ practical skills. Original plans for assessing students, she says, involved examiners going into school labs to assess these skills.
“Imagine a student being asked to demonstrate how to play their guitar through a written report? It would be ridiculous and useless from an educational point of view. It’s the same for assessing practical skills in biology, chemistry and physics. Just writing or describing a skill makes no educational sense.”
The 40 per cent weighting for the research project mark is also a source of debate. Many see it as too much given the 20 class hours allocated to complete it, based on official guidelines. Some teachers say this will simply incentivise cheating for a high-stakes exam.
Conneely also feels the volume of projects and burden of responsibility placed on science teachers to manage the procurement of materials, safety and validity of the assessments is too much.
“The guideline documents place a disproportionate burden of responsibility on the teacher in the implementation of the research investigations,” he says.
“Teachers are expected to help each student in the planning process, discuss safety considerations, be present when the investigations are being carried out, monitor the data analysis and provide authentication for the work completed. Many teachers may have two or more Leaving Certificate classes, potentially in multiple subjects, meaning they could be asked to manage up to 72 individual student investigations, monitor their progress and validate their work. This is unreasonable.”
What’s changing: students face reformed senior cycle over coming years
Under the changes, all redeveloped and revised Leaving Cert subjects will include at least one additional assessment – such as a research project, practical, demonstration or oral – worth a minimum of 40 per cent. The process of rolling out the reforms (see below) will take place on an annual basis. By 2029, all subjects will be revised. It means all those entering fifth year as a Leaving Cert student in 2029 will be following revised curricula and assessment arrangements in all subjects.
September 2025: Biology; physics; chemistry; business; ancient Greek; Arabic; Latin. In addition, some schools will trial two new subjects: climate action and sustainability; and drama, film and theatre studies
September 2026: Fifth year students will begin studying the revised curriculum for accounting; construction studies; engineering; English; geography; PE; and LCVP (Leaving Cert Vocational Programme) link modules.
September 2027: Agricultural science; computer science; design and communications graphics; history; home economics; maths; music; physics and chemistry
September 2028: Art; economics; French; Gaeilge; German; Italian; politics and society; Spanish; technology.
September 2029: Applied maths; classical studies; Japanese; Lithuanian; Mandarin Chinese; Polish; Portuguese; religious education; Russian.
