What's the real value of the Junior Cert exam?

THE much-anticipated Junior Cert results day is approaching and is awaited by anxious and eager students and their parents here in Cork and around the country. This momentous day will see more than 71,000 students receive their results.

Results will be issued to students’ schools on Wednesday, October 18, and students can also access their results online from 4pm on that date.

This online service is not intended to replace the results service and advice provided by schools at results issue time, according to the State Examinations Commission (SEC).

The 2023 issue date for Junior Cycle results is earlier than last year, when students received their results in late November, but remains much later than in previous years. This was due to examiner shortages.

Exams began on June 7, 2023, in the new Junior cycle system with more than 71,0000 sitting their Junior cert exams.

On the day of the results, this Wednesday, students will receive the JA (Junior Cycle Profile of Achievement), the grades being; distinction, higher merit, merit, achieved , partially achieved, not graded.

There is always discussion and debate around the Junior Cert. exam, its relevance and importance. It’s fair to say we see the effect of not having a Junior Cert, system now with some of the current Leaving Cert cohort 2024. Some of these students have never sat a state exam as their Junior Cert was cancelled due to Covid 19. This has led to feelings of worry and the unknown regarding doing a state exam.

I have met many parents and students at careerhub.ie who have aligned lack of motivation and poor progress around study over not sitting the state exam at Junior Cert level.

Parents of Leaving Cert students 2024 who didn’t get the opportunity to sit a Junior Cert exam due to the Covid 19 pandemic and cancellation of exams in 2020 and 2021 have recently and regularly been expressing concern over the lack of study knowledge, study protocol and subject knowledge surrounding their son or daughter and they worry this will go against them sitting the Leaving Cert exam.

Junior Certificate a vital platform

Not only does the Junior Cer exams allow students to experience a state exam and the formalities around it but the exam has immense value in progressing into Leaving Cert and choosing careers. As a Career Guidance Counsellor and Career advisor at www.careerhub.ie

I meet students on a daily basis who are met with challenges of choosing subjects, subjects which may be integral to gaining entry into their desired course via the CAO process. It is a big decision period in their education and one that parents are eager to their son or daughter with.

There is undoubtable value in the Junior Certificate process. 

The Junior Cert. exam results are one way for a student to ascertain if the subject is going to be viable or suitable for them or not. If the student achieves a good grade and enjoys the subject, it could prove a good subject choice for his or her Leaving Certificate. It gives them a foundation to see if they will achieve minimum requirements for certain courses, for example primary teaching requires a H4 in Irish. Therefore, the student can make a plan for Irish if they find that it’s a weak point after their Junior Cert. results. Engineering requires a high grade in Maths, choosing a science course will require you to have a lab science. Some universities will require a third language, so the results can inform your decisions.

The level of the subject a student chooses at Junior Cert level is important as a student who chooses the ordinary level at Junior cert. will find it difficult to to take that subject at a higher level for the Leaving Cert. This has to be considered if the student needs high points for a CAO course as a H1 will reward 100 CAO points at higher level whereas at ordinary level a top mark will give 56 points. Be realistic but ensure you think long term in relation to your career and courses.

Students can assess how well they did in subjects, this is one measure of choosing the best suited subjects for them at Leaving Cert level. They can add this as a layer into a multifaceted approach in choosing their subject for Leaving Cert., including analysing the Leaving Cert curriculum and exploring course entry requirements.

Exam technique is a vital part of sitting your Junior Cert exam. 

Timing, exam paper layout, atmosphere, no familiar teachers instead invigilators and expected conduct all are an integral learning curve for students. Students get to sit in an exam environment, they get to engage in study technique, planning and preparation. This is invaluable experience for when their Leaving Certificate comes around, preparation has been engaged in and expectations have been learnt already.

There is no denying that the stakes are higher with the Leaving Cert. However, having sat a state exam for the Junior Cert, having experienced the most basic as the exam booklet, the atmosphere all makes the Leaving Certificate exams less daunting, the unknown now becomes the practiced.

Many students looking to study things like medicine, pharmacy, dentistry are applying to the Uk and Europe including Poland, Budapest and the UK and their EUNICAS or UCAS application in the UK needs to be submitted before their Leaving Cert results are available. Predicted grades and possibly other exam grades which may take into Junior Cert results need to be submitted as part of their application.

Furthermore, for those students who are disappointed by their results or felt that they could have done better it gives them time to investigate why and implement a better approach to the Leaving Cert exam.

The Junior Cert exam is an integral part of a students education journey and it provides a solid foundation going into Leaving Cert. and furthermore their career.

About the author: Michelle Flynn is a Guidance Counsellor and Career Advisor specialising in career guidance for students and their parents and career change at www.careerhub.ie or follow @careerhub.ie on Instagram or Facebook