“You’re about to enter into the best in-service training you will ever get”

Those were the words spoken to a group of us in Athlone around June 2005 as we started our training to correct that year’s Junior Cert Religion papers.

That year I was involved in correcting Ordinary Level Religion. And what an experience it was. Just about every teacher will, at some stage, correct papers for the state exams.

The process is, frankly, impressive. Old as I am, this was in the paper days. Attend the marking conference, and then drive to the department to pick up your bundle of papers. The sheer volume of papers that you would receive was a bit of a shock to the system. No on-screen marking for us!

The following two years I corrected Higher Level Religion.

A few things struck me around the fairness of the system, and the opportunities offered to students of differing abilities:

• There was a clear difference between Higher and Ordinary Level Papers
• Questions were qualitatively different. At Ordinary Level more weighting was given to short answers so as to allow candidates an opportunity to do well
• Higher Level tended towards more in-depth questioning
• The language used in each paper had enough variation to suit the candidates taking that paper

The great thing about this system was that it allowed any student to do well and receive a grade that reflected their ability and effort.

An outstanding student could have a chance of achieving an ‘A’ (remember those?), while a student with challenges could have a decent chance to pass an ordinary level paper. There was plenty of graduation built into the system.

In 2012, 27,913 students took Higher Level Maths. Of these about 15% were awarded an A grade. (Source: https://www.thejournal.ie/junior-cert-results-591703-Sep2012/ )

In 2024, across 25 subjects the average number of students achieving a Distinction was 4%. (source: https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/education/2024/10/09/junior-cycle-results-out-today-as-percentage-scoring-highest-mark-falls-in-most-subjects/ )

I have a few problems with the Junior Cycle. The biggest problem I have is with assessment. While we still have differentiated papers for English, Irish and Maths, we have common papers in other subjects.

If the Department is so convinced that common papers are the way to go, then why have differentiated papers for these three core subjects?

Next, if we could have had such a gap of ability and results in 2012, how is it possible to give a fair assessment to a range of students on a common paper.

Finally, how is it possible that in 2012 15% of Higher Level students were able to get an A, but approximately 4% of students can now hope to achieve a distinction? This grade deflation is demoralising to those who have worked and who deserve to see their hard work rewarded.

I’m against the new Junior Cycle grading. I feel it’s fundamentally unfair to students (who don’t even like the nomenclature that goes with it). Unfortunately, as it is so new, I feel it will now be a very long time before any substantial change happens.

But before then, please have a look at the grading metrics, and allow those students who deserve a distinction, to receive that which they have worked for. 4% is not a fair breakdown in this case.