From Leaving CertiFiCate to Leaving SChooL a Longitudinal Study ...

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From Leaving Certificate to Leaving School
and therefore reduces stress. Dissatisfaction with the subjects studied
reduces perceived capacity to cope with schoolwork and therefore increases
stress levels.
3.3.1 Drivers of Stress
This section examines the main causes of stress for sixth year students.
One of the key drivers of stress outlined by the students interviewed is
the high stakes associated with the Leaving Certificate exam. Research
in the UK shows that students regarded their GCSE exams as a highly
significant juncture in life where, for the first time, their achievements
and potential were measured and made publicly available as a label
tagged to their self-identity (Denscombe, 2000). Similarly, the Leaving
Certificate appears to constitute a fateful moment in young people’s life
trajectory. Students place enormous weight on their performance and
results in envisaging their quality of life after leaving school. Similarly,
students in this study emphasised the importance of the Leaving Certificate
and in further discussions began to reveal that this stress is related to
their own aspirations. In addition to this internal stress, students also
highlighted the role of other people such as teachers and parents as
stressors during sixth year.
In terms of the stress experienced by students, it is interesting to note
that many students view the Leaving Certificate exam as the first exam
that really matters in their lives. In the UK, Denscombe (2000) found
that this pattern did not vary by social class and that all students regarded
the GCSEs in this way. Similarly, the perceived importance of the Leaving
Certificate did not vary across different social classes in Ireland, with
the vast majority (93 per cent) of students in our study regarding it as
‘important’ or ‘very important’ to do well in the exams. Students were
keen to distinguish between these exams and the Junior Certificate exams
which they had taken two or three years earlier. One student, for
example, compared the Junior Certificate to a ‘table quiz’ compared to
the Leaving Certificate: ‘It’s a joke of a test compared to it [Leaving
Certificate]’ (Park Street, boys’ school, mixed intake). Other students felt
that the Junior Certificate does not matter in later life unless you leave
school early: