Leaving Certificate (Ireland)
The Leaving Certificate Examination, commonly referred to as the Leaving Cert or the Leaving, is the final exam of the Irish secondary school system and the university matriculation examination in Ireland. It takes a minimum of two years' preparation, but an optional Transition Year means that for those students it takes place three years after the Junior Cycle examination. These years are referred to collectively as the "Senior Cycle". Most students taking the examination are aged 16–19; in excess of eighty percent of this group undertake the exam. The Examination is overseen by the State Examinations Commission. The Leaving Certificate Examinations are taken annually by approximately 60,000 students.
The senior cycle is due to be reformed between 2025 and 2029, with all subjects having a 40% project assessment, separate to the traditional written examinations in June which would be worth the remaining 60%.
Programmes
There are three distinct programmes that can be followed. While the outcomes of each programme are quite distinct, each is intended to reinforce the principles of secondary education – to prepare the student for education, society and work.Established Leaving Certificate
The Established Leaving Certificate, introduced in 1924, is the most common programme taken. A minimum of five subjects are examined, including compulsory Irish. Exemption from the mandatory study of the Irish language is described in Circular M10/94 and the exemption can be acquired because of time spent living abroad or a learning disability such as dyslexia. Most students take seven subjects.Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme
The Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme, introduced as a more practical "hands-on" complement to the conventional Leaving Certificate, is similar to the established programme.Leaving Certificate Applied
The Leaving Certificate Applied, another variant of the traditional Leaving Certificate, is taken to prepare the student for adult and working life.Grading
Leaving Certificate
Each subject is examined at one of three levels, Higher Level, Ordinary Level, or Foundation Level. Foundation Level may only be taken in two subjects: Irish and Mathematics. All other subjects may be taken at either Ordinary or Higher Level. At each level, a percentage is assigned and translated to eight possible grades. These are usually written H1-H8, O1-O8 and F1-F8.There have been proposals to impose a normal distribution on Leaving Certificate Examination scores, however, this ignores quantification problems and issues such as an A in one subject like Mathematics reflects greater attainment than an A in another subject.
Admission to universities and colleges is by a points system, run by the Central Applications Office. The points allocations shown in the accompanying table have been collectively agreed by the third-level institutions involved in the CAO scheme, and relativities that they imply have no official standing in the eyes of the State Examinations Commission or the Department of Education. The points awarded for a given percentage range are given in the table. Note that points for foundation level are only awarded for Mathematics, and only then by some institutions. A bonus for higher level Mathematics is part of the currently agreed system.
Mathematics bonus points
Since 2012, a pass in higher level Mathematics is awarded 25 bonus points, making it possible to earn 125 points in this subject. Twenty-five bonus points are awarded for higher level Mathematics for H6 grades and above. For example, if an applicant receives an H6 grade, an additional 25 points will be added to the 46 points already awarded, i.e. higher level Mathematics now carries a score of 71 points. This also means that, provided they pass, the minimum number of points a student can receive is 71, which is 15 points greater than an O1 at Ordinary Level.
Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme
The Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme allows students to take link modules, which have their own grading scheme and associated CAO points.| LCVP Grade | Percentage range | CAO Points awarded | Equivalent |
| Gradam / Distinction | 80 – 100 | 66 | H4 |
| Fiúntas / Merit | 65 – 79 | 46 | H6 or O2 |
| Pas / Pass | 50 – 64 | 28 | O4 |
Predicted grades
In 2020, the Leaving Certificate was cancelled, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This marked the first official cancellation in its existence. Leaving Certificate students were then given the choice of having teachers predict their own students' grades, which would then be nationally standardised. If students were not happy with their predicted grades, however, they could appeal their results and choose to sit a traditional exam in November 2020. The results would not be available in time for the 2020 academic year. In 2021, for each subject, candidates were given a choice to sit the Leaving Certificate examinations, take an Accredited Grade or opt for the better of the two. The examinations were extended over a 15-day period, instead of the usual 13 day period. The Accredited Grades are based on school-estimated marks and a standardisation process.Subjects available
The subjects listed below are available to Leaving Certificate students, though most schools only offer a limited number. The subjects are in five groups, with most subjects belonging to one group.Language group
L1, Mandatory languages- English
- Irish
- Ancient Greek†
- Arabic
- French
- German
- Hebrew
- Italian
- Japanese
- Latin†
- Russian
- Spanish
- Portuguese
- Mandarin Chinese
- Polish
- Lithuanian
- Classical studies†
Non-curricular languages
The following languages can only be taken if the student is from a member state of the European Union, speaks the language in which they opt to be examined in as a mother tongue, has followed a programme of study leading to the Leaving Certificate and is taking Leaving Certificate English. Another condition is that candidate may undertake examination in one non-curricular language subject only.
- Bulgarian
- Croatian
- Czech
- Danish
- Dutch
- Estonian
- Finnish
- Greek
- Hungarian
- Latvian
- Maltese
- Romanian
- Slovak
- Slovene
- Swedish
- Ukrainian
Science group
- Mathematics
- Applied mathematics
- Physics†
- Chemistry†
- Biology
- Physics and chemistry †
Business studies group
- Accounting
- Business
- Economics†
Applied science group
- Agricultural science
- Construction studies
- Engineering
- Home economics – scientific and social
- Physics and chemistry †
- Design and communication graphics
- Technology
- Computer science
- Physical education
Computer science was introduced from September 2018 at 40 secondary schools. From September 2020 it was available to all schools in Ireland.
Social studies group
- Art
- Geography
- History
- Home economics – scientific and social
- Music
- Politics and society
- Religious education
Section footnotes
- Classical studies and Ancient Greek
- Classical studies and Latin
- Physics and chemistry and either physics or chemistry
Pre-September 2022: Students had to take an extra language subject and must have had one or more of the following subject combinations:
;Specialist groupings
- Construction studies or engineering or technical drawing
- Physics and construction studies or engineering
- Agricultural science and construction studies or engineering
- Agricultural science and chemistry or physics or physics and chemistry
- Home economics and agricultural science or biology
- Home economics and art
- Accounting or business or economics
- Physics and chemistry
- Biology and agricultural science
- Biology and chemistry or physics or physics and chemistry
Exam format
Subjects are examined through a number of methods. These include at least one written paper.Language courses examine the student's writing, conversation and listening skills. The spoken section of the exams takes place some months before the written exams, and the listening takes place in the same weeks as the written.
A number of subjects in the sciences and arts include the keeping of records or creation of a physical object or project. This work is designed to provide tangible proof of the students' abilities. However, not every book or project is examined, with inspectors being sent to a small few, randomly selected schools each year, or simply examining a small selection of projects from each class to check the standard. Some subjects such as Art and Technology involve a practical exam which is supervised by an external examiner. In the academic year of the written exam, all practical science subjects are partially examined by student assignments which involve less focus on traditional exam formats and getting students to put the theory they have learned into practice, typically through a project which involves the creation of unique artifacts.