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

Curriculum, Teaching and Learning 25
cent) or to prefer to have taken another subject (53 per cent compared
with 57 per cent). Coupled with findings on subject satisfaction, this appears
to suggest that Transition Year facilitates students taking subjects
that better match their interests and abilities. However, it is worth noting
that a sizeable proportion of TY and non-TY students would select different
subjects in hindsight.
In addition to asking students about their overall satisfaction with
subjects, students were asked which subjects they liked and disliked
most in sixth year. The subjects liked by the greatest proportion of students
were Maths (21 per cent), English (20 per cent) and Biology (19
per cent) while the least liked subjects were Irish (36 per cent), Maths
(33 per cent) and French (25 per cent). Students were also asked about
whether they found a specified set of subjects interesting, difficult and
useful. This set was chosen to reflect different subject areas within the
Leaving Certificate curriculum. Because students vary in the subjects
chosen, we look at the responses only for those taking the relevant subject.
Interest levels are generally highest in relation to History and Biology
and lowest in relation to the languages, Irish, French and German
(Figure 2.2), a ranking of subjects which is identical to that reported a
year earlier (see Smyth and Calvert, 2011). Overall, students are more
positive about the subjects they have chosen than about the compulsory
(or quasi-compulsory) subjects. The exception to this pattern is Physical
Education, where a majority of students find the subject interesting. Differences
in interest levels are evident by gender and by prior achievement.
Female students are more likely to find the languages interesting
than their male counterparts; this gender difference is apparent in relation
to English and Irish (52 per cent of females find English interesting
compared with 44 per cent of males; 37 per cent compared with 25 per
cent for Irish) and also in relation to the continental languages (39 per
cent v. 30 per cent for French and 42 per cent v. 24 per cent for German).
The only subject in which levels of interest are higher among male students
is Physical Education, with 74 per cent of males finding it interesting
compared with 51 per cent of females. Students in the highestachieving
Junior Certificate group are more likely to find Maths and
Irish interesting than other students (58 per cent compared with 43 per
cent in the lowest quintile for Maths; 44 per cent compared with 28 per