An analysis of national newspaper coverage relating to the Leaving Certificate programme in two newspapers in the Republic of Ireland

Abstract

The Leaving Certificate programme in Ireland is a two year programme for upper second-level students and culminates in them sitting externally-set high stakes State examinations. Students’ experiences of the programme are dominated by these assessment demands and the level of media coverage of these examinations has been deemed ‘extraordinary’ by external observers. Drawing on 790 articles from two national newspapers across a four year time period (July 2013–July 2017), this paper provides, for the first time, an overview on the nature of the media coverage offered in this mode. Thematic analysis of the articles reveals a heavy emphasis on technical and instrumental aspects of the programme. Priority is placed on providing practical advice regarding the application process for a college place along with study skills and examination tips. Overall, a consensualist view of Irish students is reflected in the assumption that all wish to progress to higher education. Higher-level examinations are afforded more importance than ‘ordinary’ level papers and there is a focus on high-achieving academic students. There are also indicative silences that relate to less ‘distinguished’ aspects of the Leaving Certificate. The paper concludes by raising a number of related concerns.

Keywords:

• Leaving Certificate programme
• newspaper coverage
• post-primary schooling

Notes on contributors

Dr. Orla McCormack is a Lecturer in the School of Education, University of Limerick.

Jim Gleeson is Professor of Identity and Curriculum, Australian Catholic University Brisbane, formerly Senior Lecturer in Education, University of Limerick and NCCA Education Officer, Leaving Certificate Applied.

Tom O'Donoghue is a full Professor in the Graduate School of Education, The University of Western Australia. He is also an elected fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia and of the Royal Historical Society (UK).

ORCID

Orla McCormack http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3248-353X

Notes

1 Senior cycle students are afforded three options all of which include Leaving Certificate in their title 1) The Leaving Certificate Established (LCE) is a broadly based two year programme, ending in the Leaving Certificate Examination. Achievement in this examination is the main determinant of progression to higher education Participants in the Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme (LCVP) are required to choose from among certain combinations of vocationally oriented Leaving Certificate subjects and to take a/some module(s) of a vocational nature.The Leaving Certificate Applied (LCA) is a self-contained programme designed for those whose needs and talents are not adequately catered for by the other Leaving Certificate options.

2 Unlike other European countries, students in Ireland can take subjects at Higher or Ordinary Level. Mathematics and Irish can be taken at Foundation Level. A top grade (H1) in a higher level paper is awarded 100 points towards entry to Higher Education. A student’s overall points score is based on her/his top six subjects. Students who sit the Higher Level paper in mathematics receive 25 extra bonus points. Therefore, the maximum points awarded for a H1 in mathematics is 125 points. The highest overall number of points possible for a student to achieve in the Leaving Certificate is 625 points (6 H1 grades in Higher level papers including 25 bonus points for mathematics). Certain additional approaches are used to select students for more specialised courses with for example portfolios being used for entry to Art & Design programmes in conjunction with a student’s points from the Leaving Certificate examination. The HPAT (Health Professions Admission Test-Ireland) is also used for entry to undergraduate medicine programmes.

3 The awarding of places in third level institutions is overseen by the Central Application Office (CAO) which ‘processes applications for undergraduate courses in Irish Higher Education Institutions (HEIs)’ (www.CAO.ie). Places are normally awarded to individual applicants based on the points system. The final points for a course are based on the number of places available on the course and the level of competition for places. The points for each course represent the points score of the last applicant to receive an offer on that course (http://www2.cao.ie/downloads/documents/2018/howarepointsdecidedforacourse.pdf).

4 The National Framework of Qualification is a system of 10 levels. Level 6–10 relates to third level education. Level 6 refers to a Certificate, Level 7 to an Ordinary Bachelor Degree, Level 8 refers to an Honours Bachelor Degree, Level 9 to a Postgraduate Diploma and Level 10 to a Doctorate.

5 The Irish Independent was searched via the Irish Newspaper Archives while The Irish Times was searched through ProQuest.

6 The articles in the Irish Independent were often shorter than those in The Irish Times. Also issues may have existed regarding the related search engines used, as outlined in the limitations of the study. These two issues may explain the differences in the number of articles between the two newspapers.

7 Each article in each supplement was counted as an individual article.

8 ‘Direct provision is a means of meeting the basic needs of food and shelter for asylum seekers directly while their claims for refugee status are being processed rather than through full cash payments’ (Department of Justice and Equality Undated).