Leaving Cert and Third Level Readiness

The Leaving Certificate programme is failing to adequately prepare students for university studies, according to new research published today by the Institute of Education at Dublin City University.

In a survey of over 300 first-year DCU students across a wide range of courses:

• Less than a quarter (24%) of respondents felt that the Leaving Cert programme prepared them well to use technology to improve their learning;
• Only a quarter (25%) felt the Leaving Certificate prepared them well to interrogate and critically evaluate information or ideas;
• Only 27% felt the Leaving Certificate prepared them well to compare information from different sources;
• Only 28% felt the Leaving Certificate prepared them well to identify sources of information;
• Only 30% felt the Leaving Certificate prepared them well to explore ideas from a number of different perspectives.

Independent thinking, open-mindedness and confidence in reaching decisions were among the many other areas where respondents overwhelmingly felt that the Leaving Certificate did not sufficiently prepare them for their college work.

On a positive note, the survey found that the majority of respondents believed that the Leaving Cert programme had prepared them well to persist when learning was difficult (83% agreed), be well organised (83% agreed), be self-disciplined (75% agreed), manage their time (72% agreed) and cope with the pressure of heavy workload requirements (75% agreed).

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