THE LEAVING Certificate timetable for 2009 is more “student- friendly’’, with science subjects to be staggered over the course of the two-week examination.
After criticism from students and teachers, chemistry has been moved from the first to the second week of exams.
The exams begin with English Paper 1 and home economics on Wednesday, June 3rd.
Students will now sit English Paper 2 and engineering on the second day of the exam, with maths Paper 1 and geography on the following day.
For most students the only days with two “heavy” exams will be Tuesday, June 9th (Irish Paper 2 and business) and Wednesday, June 10th (French and history).
The new Leaving Certificate subject, Technology, will be examined on Friday, June 19th, the final day of the exams.
Other changes include:
* Agricultural science is to be brought forward to the morning of Thursday, June 18th;
* The running order of the three music examinations on the afternoon of Thursday, June 18th, will return to the long-standing practice of music listening (Core) followed by the composition examination and then by the listening (elective) examination; and
* Religious education will move back to the final morning of the examinations, and applied maths will move forward from the afternoon of that final day, to run concurrently on the morning of Friday, June 19th.
The Oral examinations in Leaving Certificate Irish and the modern languages will be conducted during the two-week period from March 23rd to April 3rd, 2009.
Practical examinations will be conducted over the period from May 5th to 15th.
While set dates are laid down by the State Examinations Commission for these examinations, schools will have the flexibility to use this two-week period to organise the practical examinations in such a way as to minimise any disruption in the school.
Full information on the exams is available on the State Examination Commission’s website, found at www.examinations.ie.
It is expected that next year’s Leaving Certificate results will issue to schools in the week beginning August 10th.
