From Leaving Certificate to Leaving School: A Longitudinal Study of Sixth Year Students

Current debates about senior cycle education in Ireland have raised a number of crucial questions: What effect does the Leaving Certificate exam have on young people’s learning experiences? What helps students to do well in the Leaving Certificate exam? How do young people make decisions about their future life after school? What kinds of skills and competencies do young people develop in the course of their second level education? This report provides an important evidence base for answering these and other questions by examining the experiences of young people in the sixth year as they prepare for the Leaving Certificate exam and life after school.