Oral exam in English on the cards for Leaving Cert students
April 21, 2025
Original Article: https://www.thejournal.ie/oral-exam-in-english-leaving-cert-6653286-Mar2025/
LEAVING CERT EXAMINERS are considering introducing an English-language oral examination, worth 20% of the overall grade, new consultation documents say.
It is hoped that the introduction of an oral examination will allow students to develop effective communication skills and engage in meaningful conversation.
The topics that students will discuss with examiners will largely focus material which makes up the existing course such as plays, novels and poems.
Students will undergo a scaled assessment at the end of their fifth year, allowing them to complete a fifth of the exam before heading into their final year of school, the document says.
It will be held on a common level, meaning honours and ordinary-level students undergo the same assessment and have the ability to reach an equal number of marks.
To achieve top marks, students must display excellent communication skills and knowledge of the texts on the English course. Students must also be able to express complex opinions and insights on the plays, poems and novels.
Continuous, creative writing assessments will be worth another 20% of students’ overall grade while a final, written exam will be worth 60%. The former part of the exam will also be held on a common level.
The idea is one of many included in a new public consultation document published by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment last month, the authority in charge with implementing, altering and modernising the Leaving Cert and Senior Cycle.
Under the current scheme redevelopment, oral assessments for the English Leaving Certificate examinations could be implemented for students who are completing fifth year in 2027.
A consultation period remains ongoing until May.