Leaving Certificate

Leaving Certificate

Minister Foley has recently announced changes to the senior cycle programme. New and revised subjects will be developed. From September 2023, students will take Leaving Certificate Irish and English Paper 1's at the end of Fifth Year. The marks for paper 1 will be added to the marks awarded for paper 2 which students will take in June of Sixth Year. The experience of running Orals and Practical Music Examinations at Easter in the last two years will be reviewed. It is hoped to run the examinations in this way in the future.

Leaving Certificate Curriculum

All students in Borris Vocational School study Irish, English and Mathematics for their Leaving Certificate. Students must be comprehended by the Department of Education Circular Letter 0055/2022 for them to be exempt from studying Irish. Additionally, students choose a further four subjects from the list of optional examinable subjects below. Subject availability is based on teacher resourcing and student demand. All students engage in PE, Career Guidance and Personal Development classes which include Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE). Students also study Religious Education. In the 2022-2023 academic year students who chose the Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme did not study Religious Education.

(DCG) Design and Communication Graphics

(LCPE) Leaving Certificate Physical Education

Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme (LCVP)

LCVP is an enhanced Leaving Certificate. The LCVP is a Leaving Certificate with a focus on enterprise and preparation for working life. This two-year programme combines the academic strengths of the Leaving Certificate with a dynamic focus on self-directed learning, enterprise, work and the community. In most ways the LCVP is like the established Leaving Certificate. LCVP students take two additional courses, called Link Modules, in the areas of Preparation for the World of Work and Enterprise Education.

In March 2022 Minister for Education, Norma Foley announced details the planned reform of senior cycle. Arising from this announcement, students starting Fifth Year in the academic year 2022/2023 may access the LCVP without having to meet the subject-specific criteria. This removes the need to choose two subjects from the designated Vocational Subject Groupings (VSGs) and the need to follow a recognised course in a Modern European Language (other than Irish or English). A revised programme statement is now available reflecting these changes.