Leaving Cert

After completing Junior Cycle, students in St. Mary's Academy CBS can opt to progress directly into Senior Cycle or partake in the Transition Year program.

For Senior Cycle, students opt to sit the Leaving Cert Established or the Leaving Certificate Applied Programme.

In March 2022, the Minister for Education, Norma Foley, TD, announced plans for a reimagined Senior Cycle education for post-primary students – Equity and Excellence for All, where the student is at the centre of their Senior Cycle experience.

This redevelopment of Senior Cycle is changing how students learn and how achievement is assessed. Redeveloped Leaving Cert Subjects include Additional Assessment Components (AACs) allowing students to demonstrate learning through investigations, projects, practical work and other forms of assessment alongside the final written examination. We have preprared information for our students, parents and guardians here.

Students take English, Irish and Maths as core subjects, with RE, PE and career guidance as additional subjects. Students must choose 4 "Elective Subjects" that they will complete for their Leaving Certificate exams. While every effort is made to provide classes in all these subjects, a viable class number is approximately 10.

All subjects are offered at two levels, ordinary and higher. Irish and Mathematics are available at foundation level also.