Minister for Education Mary Hanafin has backed a radical reform of the Leaving Certificate that would see an earlier exam in each subject during the final school year as well as the June exams.
The earlier exams would account for about 25 per cent of the total marks.
A decision on whether to release the results of earlier exams prior to the June papers has yet to be made. Sources say proposals for the second exam are now being teased out.
The Minister says the introduction "of a second assessment component in all subjects . . . would have the benefit of reducing the much-criticised stress imposed on students by a single high-stakes terminal examination".
Like the main exams in June, the earlier ones will be marked externally and not by class teachers.
It is understood the Minister favours a new approach in which, for example, the essay and comprehension sections of Leaving Cert papers in Irish, English and other languages are taken during the school year instead of June. Similarly, in maths, students would sit one exam early in the school year and a second in June.
The Minister makes her proposals in a confidential letter sent this week to the chief executive of the National Council for Cur- riculum and Assessment, Anne Looney.
The NCCA, made up of the education partners, has proposed a radical reform of the exam, at an estimated additional cost of over €50 million. This would see a rolling series of exams across a two-three year Leaving Cert cycle, a much wider variety of subject choices including drama and enterprise education, and with elements from transition year incorporated into the main exam.
In her detailed response, the Minister signals that some of these proposals may be overambitious and too costly. But she backs the NCCA proposal for less reliance on the June exam and the proposed new course in enterprise education.
Ms Hanafin also says transition year should remain as a "stand-alone" year instead of being incorporated into a proposed new three-year Leaving Cert cycle.
In adopting a cautious approach to other NCCA proposals, the Minister says she is mindful of several factors, including the need to:
"maintain public confidence in the education and examination systems";
"ensure that a reform programme takes full account of the capacity of the system to respond and adapt"; and
"produce a situation where we have higher participation and increased achievement outcomes among those who are educationally disadvantaged".
She also expresses concern about any possible "dumbing-down" of Leaving Cert standards. While backing a second assessment in sixth year, she appears to oppose the greater use of project work favoured by the NCCA.
"If it is intended that some of this assessment would take place other than under exam conditions (project work etc), issues arise such as the need to protect against practices such as plagiarism and inappropriate outside help," she writes.
"I believe that a particular strength of the transition year is that it is a stand-alone year providing dedicated time and space to students to engage in educational experiences that will promote their all-round development."
While welcoming the proposal to introduce a "more adult culture" for Leaving Cert students, the Minister hints that many of the suggestions may not be feasible.
Such change, she writes, "would have to be implemented over a significant period of time having regard not only to the potential disruptive effects, logistical factors and the costs involved, but also to the capacity of teachers, students, parents, schools and the public at large to move with the changes".
The NCCA proposals are designed to reduce the much-criticised stress that the Leaving Cert places on rote learning. Instead, the NCCA backed a shift towards more independent and self-directed learning. But the Minister has said she doubts the capacity of many teenage boys, in particular, to respond to this kind of approach.