A Levels what is the equivalent qualification in Ireland

[bbq007]

hi There,

Could anyone advise me as to this;
is a leaving cert in Ireland equiv. to GCSE's in England?
are highers in Ireland equiv. to A'Levels in England?

Many thanks,

BBQ

Who measures it like this please?

I understand that an individual subject won’t be studied in as much depth for LC as for A levels, but more subjects are studied for the LC. It’s a different, broader system.

Also, more than 80% of Irish students spend 6 years at second level now.

Thanks. I knew some of them allowed you to skip pre-med if it was part of the programme. UCD is a bit of an outlier then and will presumably scrap it/ make it optional eventually.

Anyway, my point was that pre-med/first year in many subjects is about getting students to a level playing field and so repeats the leaving cert. Ds did LC chemistry, was definitely regretting it by the end of the LC but was really glad of it in first year college as it's compulsory for 1st year engineering so he had one to take doss subject.

Good question. If it was measured as equivalent to GCSEs, British universities wouldnt be accepting it as an equivalent to A levels for university entry. I'm pretty sure GCSEs alone won't get you in to uni.

When I was applying for my PGCE, they wanted my junior cert English, science, and math results despite the fact that I had leaving cert results. They were not interested in my leaving cert results at all. It was all based on junior cert

Why? That doesn’t make much sense. Where was the course? Were they confused about the JC vs LC?

University of Cumbria, also applied to bath and a few other places. It was the same requirements for all of them. Nope not confused at all. I explained it to them that my leaving cert was higher than the junior cert and they said they were aware, but the junior shirt was the requirement

That is very odd. I assume you mean JC in addition to your degree results, given it's a PG course? Was it for primary teaching or is it a UK qualification for secondary teaching (they do a masters in Ireland now instead of a PG diploma)?

Yes JC alongside my degree. It was for primary teaching. I have no idea what way they do in Ireland anymore because I left teaching.😅 thank God! The course was paid for through a bursary so it was little cost to me anyway 🤣

Maybe it's something to do with the fact some (or all?) british universities consider GCSE results for entry when making offers and as you have a degree A levels/LC weren't considered?

I've always thought that was a bit unfair as lots of kids don't really knuckle down until LC.

Yes, and within Ireland JC results are never considered, or put on a CV etc, once you have a Leaving Cert, so they’re not really considered that important by those sittting the exams. More like a trial run, rightly or wrongly.

I think GCSEs would be put on a CV, as A levels have a narrower focus? They’re not equivalent to JC in that sense.

It’s good to know that JC results might be important outside Ireland, though it’s a bit late to find that out in our house!

It’s a bit of a mis-match of the systems though!

Too late here too. While dd had a near perfect JC, the boys' were a more mixed bag. Mind you, both boys still managed to pull it together for the LC and get enough points for what they wanted to do.

DC has applied to NI universities and had the shock of her life when they checked her JC grades. Thankfully despite non-perfect grades she got the offers she wanted.
DS learnt that actually JC may count for something afterall and did a bit more studying!

A friend of dd's got the same shock. Unfortunately, he didn't get the offer but got the same, really competitive, course in Ireland so it worked out in the end.

Sounds like a massive mismatch. It would have been relevant for the old Inter cert (which I did). This would have been of the same standard as leaving cert and some did leave school after it so it was a lot more important than junior cert is considered now. From my observations the junior cert seems to only be used to determine higher or ordinary level for leaving cert.

I have nieces and nephews in the UK and they did GCSE but a couple of them never made it as far as A level so you can see why it is so important there. I also think it is used to determine access to certain courses at A level college but I could be wrong. Here you can still carry on to leaving cert regardless of your junior cert results

Perhaps the reason the JC (and presumably GCSEs) are considered for the PGSE for primary teaching is due to the narrowness of A levels so they need to ensure that candidates have a certain minimum startdard in the subjects they will teach? They then look at the equivalent in the Irish system for students who came through that system?

Which system is better, do you think @ByDorisDay?

Leaving Cert may be the final exam in Ireland but that does not give it the same weighting as all other final school exams. The IB has the most subject knowledge and complex questioning system. A Levels are not equal to IB, even though they are both two year post GCSEs.

Leaving Cert happens at the educational point of GCSEs but offers higher and ordinary levels for matriculation purposes. The five years of secondary has a checkpoint exam at three years, the Junior Cert. This is not comparable in subject depth or questioning level of GCSEs. Neither of the Irish exams have changed much or has been experimented or re-adpted in the way GCSEs and A levels have, so this has applied for a long time.
OchonAgusOchonOh the 'transition year' is not a teaching year within the leaving cert cycle or junior cert; so holds no relevance or function to either exam. It has a vague resemblance to CAS in IB though. If you really want to measure the two side by side, the Leaving Cert is much much closer to GCSEs in both standard and content.

The leaving cert is not closer to the GCSE it’s closer to A LEVEL. One LC is 3/4 of an a level… gcse equivalent for us is JC. They happen at the same age and if the Irish study in the uk they are asked for gcse equivalent…which is the JC.

Leaving Cert happens at the educational point of GCSEs

No, they sit the LC aged 18 or 19.

the 'transition year' is not a teaching year within the leaving cert cycle or junior cert

DC is in transition year and is still studying English, Irish and Maths a couple of times a week. I think the school does this off their own bat (a bit more than they’re supposed to) to make sure everything isn’t forgotten for the LC cycle.

Anyway this is a zombie thread.

they sit the LC aged 18 or 19

Or aged 17 - 18 if they don’t do transition year, but about 80% do.

Judging by the latest PISA results, Irish teenagers outperform UK teenagers. Our school year is slightly shorter, and our school day is shorter, too. However, we have a very high proportion of students continuing to third level after secondary school, and a very high percentage of Irish adults have tertiary qualifications, greatly exceeding the UK figure.

Very, very few children start school age 4 these days so even if they don't do TY, they will be 18. A very small minority will be 17.

It depends where the birthdays fall.

Anyone born from July to Dec will still be 17 sitting the exams, surely, if they don’t do a transition year?
Also some of the present LC Jan or Feb borns started aged 4.5, though that is changing now and Dec is usually the cut off due to ECCE revisions. But any child born from Sep to Dec will still (mostly) start aged 4 now as they’re approaching their 5th birthday.

It is a small minority of 17 years olds sitting LC, but that’s mostly because only 20% of students don’t do transition year.

Between later starts and many schools now requiring TY, fewer and fewer 17 yos will be doing LC. DD had 5 19 yos in her LC class, and as a January baby was one of the youngest in her year.

A quick search tells me approx 17% of children start school age 4. So a small percentage to start with. Then add the prevalence of TY and it's not very many finishing school at 17.

I work at 3rd level. It would be most unusual these days for us to have 17 year olds starting.