Greta Gerwig’s blockbuster Barbie movie will be on the Leaving Cert English syllabus by 2026.
In a move sure to raise eyebrows and perhaps spark controversy, students will have to watch and study last year’s blockbuster starring Margot Robbie, which took a record €9,934,064 in box-office receipts at Irish cinemas.
However, it’s not a repeat of “Barbenheimer”, since there is no place for Christopher Nolan’s homage to J Robert Oppenheimer, father of the atomic bomb, which starred Cillian Murphy and was released at the same time.
Instead, Barbie will be joined by The Banshees of Inisherin on the syllabus.
The Department of Education is publishing its list of selected novels, films, poems and plays that are required to be studied for the Leaving Cert English exam in June 2026.
And the feminist message of Barbie, confounding the Kens of this world, will be one of the areas for exploration.
Students will have to compare various aspects of the film with other movies such as Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin.
So it will be a case of blonde hair and best friends versus bloody fingers and souring friendships.
Students will be asked to examine rival social contexts and the relationships between various characters.
New books added to the reading list include The Best We Could Do, the graphic novel by Thi Bui about a family’s journey from war-torn Vietnam to America, and Lessons in Chemistry, a novel by Bonnie Garmus about a pharmacist who becomes a cooking-show host.
New plays pupils will have to sink their teeth into include Dracula, the stage adaptation of Dublin-born Bram Stoker’s classic horror novel.
Students will still have to study Shakespeare if doing higher-level English, but it is optional at ordinary level.
The Shakespeare play for Leaving Cert 2026 will be Macbeth, replacing King Lear.
The poetry list includes works from the likes of WB Yeats, Seamus Heaney, Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin and Paula Meehan.
Many of the works on the list are already being studied for the 2025 Leaving Cert including Sive by John B Keane, now playing at the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin, and The Crucible by Arthur Miller.
The list of prescribed texts is due to be published in a circular by the Department of Education this week.
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They are chosen by a working group of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment.