Student to Student: Cork teen on why she's doing the Leaving Cert Applied

INSPIRATION BEHIND THE SERIES

Young people deserve to hear from the perspectives, opinions and experiences of other young people.

I believe we can learn from each other and help each other as we navigate the Irish education system.

I aim to draw from as many points of view as possible, making sure this advice is relevant to as many different students as possible.

The articles over the next 10 weeks will look at study skills, career route options, Leaving Certificate reflections, school experiences and so on.

In the second part of this series, I’m delving into school advice all about LCA.

ABOUT LEAVING CERT APPLIED

LCA, or Leaving Certificate Applied, is a two-year Leaving Certificate programme aimed at preparing students for adult and working life.

It isn’t often as well known as the traditional Leaving Certificate but the main difference is that LCA is split into four half-year sessions, with more emphasis on continuous assessment instead of the end of year exams.

Since I am not doing LCA, I wanted to find out more about this route from an actual LCA student.

I asked Louise McCarthy for her perspective on the programme. She is a 17-year-old student approaching her 2nd LCA year this month.

In 2021/22, she did Transition Year and really enjoyed the experience. She didn’t expect to be doing Leaving Cert Applied after that, but she started 5th year the following autumn and had a change of heart.

Louise explained: “I started the school year in 5th year and I didn’t really find it enjoyable.”

The rote learning, academic nature of the traditional Leaving Cert did not suit her.

“I find it difficult learning from the book,” she said. Therefore, she decided to take a slightly different path by opting into LCA. She seemed to find solace even thinking about LCA, saying: “I prefer learning in a more practical way.”

LCA is often a better fit for students who prefer a more hands on approach centred in real-life scenarios to learn material. Many apprenticeships, PLCs, employers and other courses accept and embrace the LCA qualification. In fact, the course far better prepares young people for certain careers.

However, the end goal of the Leaving Cert is CAO points. So, the inevitable question is how a student can do LCA and what does it mean for your options after secondary school?

Truthfully, it won’t suit every university course you apply for. Just ensure you research exactly what you need to achieve for your next step.

Conversely, Louise also told me why she’s so thrilled with her choice, “LCA is good because you’re doing the Leaving Cert in the two years.”

A significant aspect of why many people prefer LCA is reduced stress and pressure. The Leaving Cert is infamous for being a source of anxiety, worry and struggle. Even just the memory of sitting the Leaving Cert has been known to stay with people for years after.

However, Louise says that she feels under less stress because “you sit one state exam in LCA 1 and the rest in LCA 2”.

This indicates that the testing of what you’ve learned is spaced out better in LCA than in the LC. This makes it easier to stay on top of your workload and perform to the very best of your ability.

I also wanted to hear about the flipside of Leaving Certificate Applied. Louise revealed that she has found negatives with the last year too.

“LCA can also be difficult in a way,” she said.

She described feeling under pressure at times from trying to juggle lots of projects and paperwork. She explained that sometimes she can feel stressed, “with tasks and how much stuff you have to put in them and you’ve to bind and print them all in a time limit.”

As LCA is more assessment-based, that brings about its own workload. It’s also more practical so the timetable is busy with workshops, tutorials and visits. Though it has been beneficial, participants have also been on work experience for one school day a week to build up the student’s skills and employability.

Between this work experience, different ongoing projects, trips and then class, there is still a lot to manage.

Finally, I asked Louise what advice she would give to any student reading this who relates to her experience of not quite slotting into the academic side of school.

She also seemed to reflect on what she would have liked to tell herself from the outset. Knowing where your individual strengths lie seems to be important to Louise.

If she’d recognised where her own strengths lay earlier, she may not have felt any hesitancy around going into LCA.

“Advice I would give would be - if you’re thinking about doing LCA, you should just do it if you don’t need the CAO to go into college.

“There’s plenty of other ways to go into a career you want, there’s no point struggling in your last two years of school.”

Taking in the consideration of the career you wish to pursue after school, Louise certainly seemed to recommend Leaving Certificate Applied.

Next week: Amy chats to Eva Grace about navigating the Leaving Cert with a disability.