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

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Introduction
Current debates about senior cycle education in Ireland have raised a
number of crucial questions: What effect does the Leaving Certificate
exam have on young people’s learning experiences? What helps students
to do well in the Leaving Certificate exam? How do young people make
decisions about their future life after school? What kinds of skills and
competencies do young people develop in the course of their secondlevel
education? This book provides an important evidence base for answering
these and other questions by examining the experiences of
young people in sixth year as they prepare for the Leaving Certificate
exam and life after school. It is the latest book in a series of publications
stemming from the Post-Primary Longitudinal Study, which has followed
a cohort of over 900 students in twelve case-study schools, selected
to capture key dimensions of school policy and practice. This is
the first such longitudinal study in the Irish context and it yields rich insights
into the factors shaping young people’s experiences as they move
through second-level education, thus providing important evidence for
future policy development. This particular book focuses on providing an
overview of the experiences of sixth year students and is published with
a companion volume (Smyth and Calvert, 2011) which looks at the transition
from junior cycle (lower secondary) to senior cycle (upper secondary)
education. This executive summary outlines the main findings regarding
sixth year students and the implications for policy development.