In the Dark

It is an important day for many young people in Ireland because the Junior Certificate and Leaving Certificate examinations both start today, so the first thing I need to do is wish everyone starting their examinations the very best of luck!

Among other things, the results of the leaving certificate examinations are important for September’s university admissions. In the system operating in England and Wales the standard qualification for entry is the GCE A-level. Most students take A-levels in three subjects, which gives them a relatively narrow focus although the range of subjects to choose from is rather large. In Ireland the standard qualification is the Leaving Certificate, which comprises a minimum of six subjects, with many students taking more than this. This gives students a broader range of knowledge at the sacrifice (perhaps) of a certain amount of depth; it has been decreed for entry into this system that an Irish Leaving Certificate subject counts as about 2/3 of an A-level subject for admissions purposes, so Irish students do the equivalent of at least four A-levels, and many do more than this. It’s also worth noting that all students have to take Mathematics at Leaving Certificate level. One can choose to do Leaving Certificate subjects at Ordinary or Higher level and there’s quite a big difference between the two, especially in Mathematics.

Overall I prefer the Leaving Certificate over the UK system of A-levels, partly the former gives the students a broader range of subjects than the latter. I would have liked to have been allowed to take at least one arts subject past O-level, for example. Another reason is that all students across the country take the same examination, so the difficulty or otherwise of the papers is a topic of national conversation. There will no doubt be many reactions in the media over the forthcoming days!

Anyway, tomorrow is a significant date for me (in more ways than one) so I’m up early this morning before heading off on a short journey to mark the occasion in style.

This entry was posted on June 3, 2026 at 6:59 am and is filed under Biographical, Education, Maynooth with tags Examinations, Leaving Certificate, Leaving Certificate 2026, Maynooth University. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.