Student Experiences of the Leaving Certificate Applied Programme

16 ENGAGING YOUNG PEOPLE?There is no ‘trade-off’ between a school’s providing LCA and itproviding the other Leaving Certificate programmes. LCA is mostcommonly available in schools which provide all three programmes, withalmost two-thirds of schools which provide LCA also offering LeavingCertificate Established (LCE) and the Leaving Certificate VocationalProgramme (LCVP) (Figure 3.2). Few schools provide the LCA only, withthe exception of some Special Schools which provide it for studentswishing to take a state examination.Figure 3.2: Patterns of Programme Provision Across Second-levelSchools Where LCA is Offered (2006)LCA only0%LCA/LCVP29%LCA/LCE/LCVP63%LCA/LCE8%Source: DES student database, 2006.Schools can apply or ‘seek approval’ from the Department of Educationand Science (DES) to offer the LCA and this decision is made at schoollevel. Schools designated as serving disadvantaged communities under theDEIS Action Plan for Social Inclusion are particularly encouraged to applyfor LCA by the DES (DES, 2009).Whether a school provides LCA varies by school sector. Levels ofprovision are highest in the community/comprehensive sector, where themajority (almost three-quarters) of schools provide the programme. Incontrast, LCA is provided by under a third of voluntary secondary schools.The proportion of schools providing the programme has increased overtime in all school sectors (Figure 3.3).