The written Leaving Cert exams will go ahead this summer with more options and fewer questions for students.
The issue went before Cabinet today with the Education Minister Norma Foley recommending a return to the written exam format.
The Children's Ombudsman, sixth-year student groups and opposition parties had all called for a hybrid model like that used in the past two years.
Minister Norma Foley confirms written leaving cert to go ahead. Says it will look significantly different with more options and fewer questions.
Changes to oral exams as well - 20 srathpictuir down to 10 for example pic.twitter.com/YW88jDZ8Nb
— Seán Defoe (@SeanDefoe) February 1, 2022
However, Education Minister Norma Foley said they weren't in a position to offer predicted grades this year.
"Want to address the question of the accredited grades - that there was a request that that would be considered, and I do want to say we did look at that and it was examined.
"I want to be very clear we were not and and not in a position to provide for accredited grades in the same fashion that they were provided for last year.
That is largely due to the fact that one in four of the class of 2022 who did not sit a Junior Cycle exam - through no fault of their own there was no exam in 2020.
"People would wonder why that is relevant and it's relevant because in the accredited grade system the teacher provides her estimated mark, or his estimated mark.
"And that teacher knows his or her student as I would expect them to know, but not neccessarily another student's ability or capability.
"In a national exam there needs to be comparability or standardisation and to achieve that what we've done in the past two years is that we've relied on the student's own data - the Junior Cycle data.
"This year, 25% - or one in four - students do not have that data.
"So we would not be in a position to provide for accredited grades in a system that is as fair as it was provided for last year."
