Student Experiences of the Leaving Certificate Applied Programme

50 ENGAGING YOUNG PEOPLE?That would encourage me to do LCA too, yeah… I thought it’d be a bit moreprobably easier than the way it was with the Junior Cert, having to think backon those three years and then to sit the exams at the end of year, I thought it wasreally stressful where with the LCA like it was very good and it helped youtowards the exams at the end, you know. And you had actually exams everyquarter in the year like. (Niamh, 21, completed LCA, employed)What appealed to me was that the exams were sort of spread out over a longperiod, you know, with all the key assignments and all the assessments had to beadded up, so that really appealed to me like because it was, it wouldn’t be one bigload of exams at the end of it. (Graham, 22, completed LCA, apprentice)4.4.2 UNABLE TO DO THE LEAVING CERTIFICATEESTABLISHEDA fifth of students chose LCA as they did not feel they would do well inthe LCE/LCVP with females feeling less able for the LCE/LCVP thanmales. As Section 4.3.1 highlights, the take-up of LCA is related to lowreading and Mathematics ability, negative attitudes towards school and lowsubject level and grades in the Junior Certificate. It is not surprising thatmany of this group do not think they would do well in the LCE and wouldprefer the vocational aspects of LCA. Fiona was not interested in taking theLCE as she felt she had ‘never passed’ her subjects in junior cycle and wasafraid that the senior cycle would continue in the same way:That’s what put me off the Leaving Cert as well, like I’ve never ever passed. Iremember the girls were doing honours in Junior Cert, I’d be looking at it, it waslike looking at Japanese or something. (Fiona, 25, completed LCA,employed)Tim and Justin found their Junior Certificate exams difficult and wereconcerned that if they took the LCE they would fail:Would you prefer if you hadn’t taken the LCA?If I’d have took the normal Leaving Cert I’d have failed. (Tim, 21, completedLCA, unemployed)I found them, I had heard that the Leaving Cert was hard like, so I didn’t wantto go and do the Leaving Cert and fail it, and get nothing out of it, so I doneLCA and go for the Guards or something. (Justin, 22, completed LCA,employed)Students’ reasons for taking LCA appear to be based on their ownindividual preference for practical over academic subjects and theirperceived ability in the LCE. Self choice also emerged in the qualitativeinterviews where respondents described how their family and in particularparents had little involvement in their decision to take the programme andin some instances were just happy they were returning to school after theirJunior Certificate.4.4.3 SELF CHOICE/LACK OF PARENTAL INFLUENCEMany respondents’ parents were unaware of the LCA programme anddepended on their children for information on how it differed from other