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Description Of Certificate Examinations

	Please click on the dropdown menu below to navigate through each of the State Examination Certificates.

The Leaving Certificate (Established) Programme

The Leaving Certificate (Established) programme offers students a broad and balanced education while allowing for some specialisation. The certificate is used for the purposes of selection into further education, employment, training and higher education.

The examination is the terminal examination of post-primary education. It is held at the end of the Senior Cycle in post-primary schools. The Senior Cycle caters for students in the 15 to 18 year old age group. The majority of candidates who sit for the examinations are recognised students in post-primary schools, are 17 or 18 years of age and have completed 5 or 6 years of post-primary education.

However, candidature for the examination is not limited to post-primary school students. A candidate following an approved course of study outside the State or who is attending an approved course of study organised under the Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme , Adult Literacy and Community Education Schemes, the Department of Social and Family Affairs second-level scheme for the unemployed or an analogous scheme, may be admitted to the examinations on payment of the appropriate fee.

Subject Choice. The examination is offered in the following subjects and levels. For curriculum information for each of these subjects please click on this link to the website of the Department of Education and Science.


SUBJECT		LEVEL

	Irish		Higher, Ordinary and Foundation

	English		Higher and Ordinary

	Latin		Higher and Ordinary

	Ancient Greek		Higher and Ordinary

	Classical Studies		Higher and Ordinary

	Hebrew Studies		Higher and Ordinary

	Arabic		Higher and Ordinary

	French		Higher and Ordinary

	German		Higher and Ordinary

	Italian		Higher and Ordinary

	Spanish		Higher and Ordinary

	History		Higher and Ordinary

	Geography		Higher and Ordinary

	Mathematics		Higher, Ordinary and Foundation

	Applied Mathematics		Higher and Ordinary

	Physics		Higher and Ordinary

	Chemistry		Higher and Ordinary

	Physics and Chemistry		Higher and Ordinary

	Agricultural Science		Higher and Ordinary

	Biology		Higher and Ordinary

	Agricultural Economics		Higher and Ordinary

	Engineering		Higher and Ordinary

	Construction Studies		Higher and Ordinary

	Technology		Higher and Ordinary

	Design and Communication Graphics		Higher and Ordinary

	Home Economics		Higher and Ordinary

	Accounting		Higher and Ordinary

	Business		Higher and Ordinary

	Economics		Higher and Ordinary

	Religious Education		Higher and Ordinary

	Art (including crafts)		Higher and Ordinary

	Music		Higher and Ordinary

	Russian		Higher and Ordinary

	Japanese		Higher and Ordinary

Other EU Language Subjects
Examinations in a number of other EU language subjects are also offered on a non-curricular basis and subject to candidates meeting certain criteria.
Please click here for further information.

Subject Exclusions
Candidates may not take any of following subject combinations:

1. Physics and Chemistry and either of the separate subjects, Physics or Chemistry.
2. Economics and Agricultural Economics.
3. Classical Studies and Latin.
4. Classical Studies and Ancient Greek.

Subject Clashes
The State Examinations Commission makes every effort to arrange the examination timetable in order to minimise the potential for subject clashes. Sometimes students enter for subjects that are timetabled for the same time and date. Arrangements can be made to allow time to sit both papers. Please contact Entries Section for further information. Telephone 090 6442704 / 6442702 / 6442706. E-mail: entries@examinations.ie

Composition of the Examination
The examination incorporates written tests in all subjects. In addition, there are oral and aural tests in the subjects Irish, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian and Japanese. There are practical examinations in the subjects Engineering, Construction Studies, Art and Music. There is Practical Course Work in the subjects Engineering; Construction Studies; Agricultural Economics; Agricultural Science; LCVP; History; Geography, Religious Education, Design and Communication Graphics and Technology. The new examination in Home Economics includes an element of assessed course work and also a Textile option.

Grading
Results of the Leaving Certificate examination subjects are given in the form of grades. Each grade represents a percentage range of marks as follows:


Percentage Range		Grade

	90 or over		A1

	85 but less than 90		A2

	80 but less than 85		B1

	75 but less than 80		B2

	70 but less than 75		B3

	65 but less than 70		C1

	60 but less than 65		C2

	55 but less than 60		C3

	50 but less than 55		D1

	45 but less than 50		D2

	40 but less than 45		D3

	25 but less than 40		E

	10 but less than 25		F

	Less than 10		No Grade

Page last updated: March 15 2017, 13:32 GMT

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