Only one in six Leaving Cert students achieved six honours or more in last year's exams, and most find the exam far more difficult than the Junior Cert, according to Department of Education figures.
The Department's latest Exam Factfile underlines the difficulty of the Leaving Cert exams for most students. The student who secures the points necessary for law or medicine at third level is still exceptional. Only 2,600 of the 62,000-plus who sat last year's exam secured six honours, with three or more subjects at Grade A2 (8589 per cent) or higher. One in six secured six honours.
According to the figures, only about one in three candidates secured four or more honours. Girls continue to outperform boys; over 12,000 female students secured four honours or better compared to the 8,600 male students who achieved similar results.
The results at Junior Cert level are significantly better. Over 50 per cent of candidates achieve four honours or better on higher course papers. And over 40 per cent secure six honours or better. A remarkable one in three of Junior Cert students secure six honours, of which at least three were at Grade A (85 to 100 per cent) or higher.
The comparison between the Leaving and Junior Cert figures will confirm many teachers in their view that the Junior Cert gives students a misleading picture of how they might perform at Leaving Cert level. Some teachers regularly complain that impressive Junior Cert results make students underestimate the difficulty of the Leaving Cert.
Earlier this year a report by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA), which advises the Minister on curriculum issues, pointed to some striking comparisons between Leav ing and Junior Cert grades. In particular, it said, there was "a decrease in the number of higher grades awarded in the Leaving Cert, which was more pronounced at the ordinary level".
This was shown most dramatically in Irish. While 47 per cent of Junior Cert ordinary-level Irish candidates were awarded grades A or B, only 3.8 per cent of Leaving Cert ordinary-level Irish candidates achieved these grades.
The Department of Education has been under considerable pressure to reform the Junior Cert. The exam, introduced in 1989, was intended to provide a broadly-based curriculum in the first years of post-primary education. Critics maintain it has become a mirror image of the Leaving Cert, with studies dominated by preparation for written State exams.
In a report earlier this year, the NCCA lamented the inflexible nature of much of the curriculum.