22-04-2025
More students expected to get higher grades under Junior Cycle update
The new Junior Cycle grading system is to be updated in time for the exams this summer, with more students expected to receive higher grades as a result.
The minister for education Helen McEntee has announced that new changes to the grading system will be in place in time for over 73,000 students due to sit their Junior Cycle exams in June.
Since starting its rollout in 2017, reforms of the Junior Cycle have replaced the traditional ABC style of grading.
The Junior Cycle Profile of Achievement (JCPA) introduced instead "merits" (55% to 74%), "higher merits" (75% to less than 90%), and "distinctions" (90% and above).
Under the changes announced today by the minister, these grades will now be evenly distributed in bands of 15 percentage points — meaning to receive a distinction a student needs to score 85% or higher, instead of 90%.
In recent years, the State Examinations Commission (SEC) has defended the drop off in the numbers of students achieving the highest grades at Junior Cycle.
Students themselves have been campaigning for changes to the system, which they describe as 'demotivating and disheartening'
Transition Year students at Coláiste Bhríde in Carnew, Co Wicklow, launched their national campaign after they received their Junior Cycle results last October.
'We saw some of our peers that worked really hard didn't get the results they deserved,' student Sarah Jennings said.
Another concern for teachers and students was the 'broad' merit band, which previously ran from 55% to 74%.
Under the previous system, a student who received 70% in an exam received a merit grade. Under the new system, this student will receive a higher merit.
Higher numbers of students will achieve distinction and higher merit grades with this change, Ms McEntee said.
'With the top four grade bands now becoming evenly distributed, this will have a positive impact on students, ensuring their grades are more reflective of their work and effort, as well as of the work of our teachers.'
Teacher conferences
The changes have been announced as the annual teachers' union conferences continue this Easter week.
Tuesday marks the opening of both the Association of Secondary Teachers (ASTI) and Teachers' Union of Ireland (TUI) conferences.
The ASTI is expected to debate a motion seeking legal indemnity for teachers who suspect a student may have used AI as part of project work due to be introduced under Leaving Cert reforms.
Both the ASTI and the TUI have voiced concerns and opposition to the proposed changes, due to begin rollout from this September.
Both unions have previously called on the minister to pause the reforms, voicing fears around schools's capacity to roll out the changes — which will begin with chemistry, biology, physics, as well as business studies.
A main point of contention is the introduction of project work called additional assessment components (AACs) to be worth 40%.
Separately, English teachers have raised concerns about proposed changes to the Leaving Cert subject.
While many are enthusiastic about certain aspects of the proposed changes, they are also concerned about the 'overall thrust of the redevelopment process', according to the Irish National Organisation of English Teachers (Inote).
In a letter to Ms McEntee, the group warns that potential problems seem 'too substantial to justify moving away from the current specification, which is working very well and has done so for the past 25 years'
While the group strongly welcomes the concept of an oral exam in English for the first time, it has also voiced concerns around the introduction of an additional assessment components in the subject.
This additional assessment component will be 'extremely vulnerable to AI abuse in ways we cannot even conceive of now, in 2025', it wrote.
'No one knows the capabilities generative AI will have in October 2027, when this proposed AAC will first take place
'AI has already infiltrated our English classrooms and it represents the very antithesis of creativity, as we understand it; in fact, it short circuits this most human of endeavours.'
Given the high-stakes nature of this assessment, and 'the inability of teachers to ensure the authenticity of student work in an AI-saturated world', Inote added it would expect a 'detailed and convincing implementation document that can guarantee the same integrity as the current exam model".
'If student work cannot be authenticated satisfactorily, then this assessment moment needs a complete re-think or the weighting of this assessment should at least be reduced to 10%.'
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