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

Conclusions 235
their choices. Expectations also play a crucial role, since for many middle-class
young people their school views higher education as the ‘natural
path’, while some working-class students expressed frustration concerning
the assumptions being made about their capacities. It is important
that guidance be used to counter low expectations and encourage
young people to consider a range of options. Parents emerge once again
as key sources of advice in young people’s decision-making (see Byrne
and Smyth, 2011). The targeting of user-friendly information towards,
and school contact with, parents is therefore likely to enhance the ability
of parents to support their children’s pathways.
International research has highlighted the way in which high stakes
testing can lead to unintended but negative consequences, such as ‘teaching
to the test’ and narrowing young people’s learning experiences (see,
for example, Au, 2007). The Leaving Certificate examination is a very
high stakes test, since performance has significant implications for access
to post-school education, training and employment. Students themselves
are very aware of what is at stake for them, especially given the
‘points’ system for higher education entry. The study findings clearly
indicate the way in which the presence of the Leaving Certificate colours
student experiences of fifth and sixth year. On making the transition to
senior cycle, young people report an escalation of demands and more
challenging schoolwork, highlighting a significant ‘gap’ in standards
between junior and senior cycle. Although finding many of their subjects
(particularly optional subjects) interesting and useful, they emphasise the
significant amount of material to be covered across the subjects they
study. Moving on to sixth year involves a further escalation of workload
for students, with many spending a very significant number of hours on
homework and study in the evenings and taking private tuition (‘grinds’)
in an effort to prepare for the exams. The workload attached to preparing
for the Leaving Certificate exam is associated with high levels of student
stress, and many young people are critical of the almost complete reliance
on these exams as the assessment of their performance.
The presence of the impending exams is found to shape young people’s
experience of teaching and learning in sixth year. LCE and LCVP
classes are characterised by teacher-led instruction, assignment of sig-