STUDENT EXPERIENCES OF THE LEAVING CERTIFICATE APPLIED PROGRAMME. ESRI Research Bulletin 2010/2/3

Some countries incorporate all young people into a comprehensive school system and others divide students into different educational ‘tracks’ based on levels of ability. The relative merits of these different approaches have been a central focus of international academic and policy debates on second-level education. Traditionally, the Irish second-level education system has been characterised as a general education system, which deals more with academic than vocational learning. In 1995, however, the Leaving Certificate Applied (LCA) programme was introduced to provide an alternative to the Leaving Certificate Established (LCE) and the Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme (LCVP). The aim of the LCA is to prepare students for the transition from the world of education to that of adult and working life including further education; however unlike the LCE/LCVP there is no direct access to third level with an LCA qualification. Since its introduction, participation has increased and LCA students now make up seven per cent of the Leaving Certificate cohort. A new study† examines students’ experiences of the LCA and explores the processes involved in Irish students choosing or being assigned to the different Leaving Certificate programmes. The study draws on information about student experiences of school prior to entering the LCA, their learning experiences during the programme, and their educational and occupational experiences when they leave school