Junior Certificate
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The Junior Certificate Examination (commonly referred to simply as the Junior Cert) is a mandatory Irish 2nd level test accredited by the State Examinations Commission. The test is taken in a secondary school student's third year and not before age 14. A student usually takes between 10 and 11 subjects, including Maths, English, Irish and a foreign language. The examination does not reach the standards for college or university entrance, instead a school leaver in Ireland will typically take the Leaving Certificate Examination two to three years after completion of the Junior Certificate.
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History
The Junior Cert officially replaced the Intermediate Certificate Examination (Inter Cert) in 1992. The new course was seen as a much more flexible and modern course. The Junior Cert quickly became the minimum requirement for getting a job in Ireland. Near the end of the decade, in 1999 the Department of Education and Science began to replace the curriculums of many subjects, particularly those that were dated such as History and Geography. In 2000 Religious Education and CSPE were introduced as subjects. Religion was phased in with just a few schools adopting it in its first year, whilst CSPE was implemented nationwide. In 2002 a new Science course was introduced. The new course placed emphasise on greater class participation and a move towards giving a percentage of marks for class practicals throughout the three years. In 2004, results were made available on the Internet for the first time, allowing students who had moved school or left school to get their results without having to return to their old school.
The Junior Cert Course
The Courses
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The Junior Cert course takes 3 years to complete. They are the first three years at second level education. Students will usually spend the first 2 years covering the course and much of the third revising, and preparing for the exam. Courses are quite broad - for example the Business studies course covers business organisation, marketing, economics, accounting and several other areas. The Leaving Cert exam by comparison is much more specific.
Subjects available
The following is a list of all options available for the Junior Certificate. Many schools only offer a small subset of these options. Mandatory subjects are in bold, levels are in brackets.
- Irish (Higher, Ordinary and Foundation)
- English (Higher, Ordinary and Foundation)
- Mathematics (Higher, Ordinary and Foundation)
- History (Higher and Ordinary)
- Geography (Higher and Ordinary)
- French (Higher and Ordinary)
- German (Higher and Ordinary)
- Spanish (Higher and Ordinary)
- Italian (Higher and Ordinary)
- Art, Craft & Design (Higher and Ordinary)
- Music (Higher and Ordinary)
- Science* (Higher and Ordinary)
- Science (with Local Studies)* (Higher and Ordinary)
- Home Economics (Higher and Ordinary)
- Materials Technology Wood (Higher and Ordinary)
- Materials Technology Metal (Higher and Ordinary)
- Technical Graphics (Higher and Ordinary)
- Business studies (Higher and Ordinary)
- Typewriting (Higher and Ordinary)
- Environmental and Social Studies (ESS) (Higher and Ordinary)
- Materials Technology (Higher and Ordinary)
- Latin* (Higher and Ordinary)
- Ancient Greek* (Higher and Ordinary)
- Classical Studies* (Higher and Ordinary)
- Hebrew Studies (Higher and Ordinary)
- Religious Education (Higher and Ordinary)
- Civic, Social and Political Education (CSPE) (Common)
- *Subject exclusions - candidates may not take any of following subject combinations
In the case of Irish, students not resident in Ireland for more than 7 years are exempt from the taking the subject.
The Examination
The exam takes place after 3 years of the course, usually in early June. The exams always start with English, then the other main subjects and finally finish with the subjects that have the fewest candidates. The exams can take the form of written papers, aurals, orals, practicals and marks from course work assignments (such as in CSPE, where 60% of the exam rests on an action project). Exams are usually 2-3hrs long, most subjects are one paper only (i.e. they are taken in a single session), however 4 subjects have two papers at higher level - Irish, English, Maths and Business.
Levels
At Junior Cert, students can take the exams at 3 levels. They are:
- Higher (also called Honours) - most students take higher.
- Ordinary (also called Pass) - common in subjects like English, Irish and Maths - rarer in other subjects (1 in 10 or so).
- Foundation - quite rare - only taken if a student is very weak in a particular subject (such as a non-native speaker taking Foundation English). Foundation is only available is the core subjects (English, Irish, Maths).
In CSPE, there are no separate levels, all students take the same (common) level.
After the Junior Certificate, if a student has taken Ordinary level, he/she can take Higher level at Leaving Certificate level.
Grading
Grades are awarded as shown in diagram below.
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Junior Certificate grading
Anything over 55% is described as an 'honor'. Marking schemes are freely available to students before exams - however at Junior Cert level, exam papers are not returned after the exam. If a candidate feels he/she has been unfairly marked, they can have the paper rechecked (for a fee of Euro30).
Irish
In the Junior Certificate candidates have the option of answering either in Irish or in English (except in the case of the subjects Irish and English and questions in other language subjects). A candidate who answers in Irish at the written examination in certain subjects will be given bonus marks in addition to the marks gained in the subject. Bonus marks are awarded at the rate of between 3-10% of the marks obtained.
After the Exam
Results
Results are released in mid-September. The Junior Certificate (and more so, the Leaving Certificate) results take centerplace in the Irish media for the week surrounding their release. The newspapers publish various statistics about the exam and cover high achievers (usually 4 or 5 get 11 As). Schools generally give students (who have received their results) the day off and Junior Cert discos are organised in most towns. These discos have come under criticism lately due to large amounts of underage drinking.In some areas nothing happens such as discos and children have no choice but to binge drink. More organisation is needed and the problem would be solved
Drop-Outs
Although school attendance in Ireland is relatively high - many students drop-out of the education system after completion of the Junior Certificate. Many drop-out to pursue apprenticeships in the various trades such as carpentry, bricklaying, plastering and mechanics. It is estimated that in parts of Dublin, the drop-out rate is as high as 25% - however the rate is much lower on a national basis. Those who stay in the education system sit the Leaving Certificate - the requirement for college entry in Ireland. There is a new type of leaving cert called the leaving cert applied which is there to prevent people from dropping out. It is all practical work and you can work after school or do an apprenticeship.
Transition Year
After the Junior Cert students in many schools can take Transition Year also called 4th Year. It is not part of either the Junior or Leaving Cert courses and offers students the chance to try new things. During Transition Year, many students participate in enterprise projects, travel to France or Germany to study French or German, do First Aid courses, join volunteer groups or take classes in subjects such as Applied Maths. It is seen as a form of a gap year, to allow students (particularly younger students) a chance to prepare for the Senior Cycle and to develop their weaker subjects.
Controversy
There has been much criticism in recent years of both the Junior Certificate and the Leaving Certificate courses by several groups in Irish society - teachers, parents, the media and indeed the students themselves. The main criticisms being voiced are:
- The terminal exam system is claimed by many to be outdated - a system of continuous assessment like that used in Germany is said to be fairer and place less pressure on students than measuring their entire performance in a single exam - in defense terminal examinations allow the student to study a topic completely and coherently rather than attempting to over modularise topics. Also terminal systems allow for greater external examination, in effect external auditing, which is the cornerstone of education in Ireland at all levels.
- The actual course is claimed by some to be out of date:
- The accounting section of the business course is still done in ledgers - while most accounting today is done in spreadsheets programs such as Microsoft Excel,
- In some curriculum books chapters dealing with computers use 5" and 3.5" floppy disks as methods of storage (these are now reasonably redundant, being replaced by CD-Rs and flash drives). However, the examination intended to provide the student with generic rather than specific skills that would be more appropriately obtained at a higher level such as degree.
- Some people feel there is a lack of practical examinations in such subjects as science - it should be noted a revised course is currently being introduced - this often leads to a poor motivation in such practical subjects and a poor interest and takeup of science and technology in general at higher education.
- The system has been accused of failing weaker students, meaning if a student performs poorly from an early stage, there is very little support for him/her to improve - as noted above, students who take lower level exams on the Junior Certificate are discouraged from attempting higher level exams for the Leaving Certificate.
- The system can tie a person's entire life's success to two exams - if they perform poorly in the Junior Certificate and the Leaving Certificate, the range of career options open to them, including college study, can be much more limited. However compared to the international experience students have a relatively late start in formal examinations, thus the system is not unnecessarily examination or performance oriented, or at least until the mid-teens, often a source of criticism in other countries where systems are more tuned for the benefit of the school's standing rather than the student.
See also
References
- State Examination Commission (http://www.examinations.ie)
- About the Junior Cert (http://www.examinations.ie/main.php?l=en&mc=ca&sc=sc)
- Info on the courses and study guides (http://www.skoool.ie/)