merrion street

The Minister for Education and Skills, Mr. Joe McHugh, T.D. today congratulated students who will receive their Junior Cycle Profiles of Achievement (JCPA) award over the next two weeks. The students are the second group to receive the new award which has replaced the Junior Certificate.
Minister McHugh said: “Huge congratulations to each and every student, from all over the country who will receive their JCPA awards over these next two weeks. This new award recognises the span of activity that students undertake at junior cycle, and reflects the value placed on all elements of student achievements, along with results from the State examinations. It also reflects great effort and dedication by students who deserve to be proud of their achievements.”
“We have a renewed focus on students going through a learning journey and on getting credit for a range of skills and achievements. The new reporting arrangements in the Framework for Junior Cycle help to ensure that both students themselves and parents or guardians get a broader picture of a student’s learning, progress and achievement throughout the whole of junior cycle.”
Minister McHugh also acknowledged the role that parents and guardians and teachers play in supporting students.
JCPAs will be awarded to all students by schools from today Monday 10 December 2018. All JCPAs should be produced and awarded to students by the end of the current term.
The JCPA includes a student’s results in State Examinations, in Classroom Based Assessments, their participation in short courses and any other additional areas of learning and achievement including extra-curricular activities. Specific recognition is given in the JCPA for students with special educational needs for their achievements in Priority Learning Units.

Notes to Editor

The 2018 Junior Cycle examination student cohort are the second group to participate in the new Junior Cycle with English being the first of the new subject specifications examined. 62,562 students sat the Junior Cycle in 2018.
The JCPA is a key part of the large scale reform of the Junior Cycle. The central objective of this reform is to ensure a more holistic, student-centred, approach to education, whereby all students are given the opportunity to develop a wider range of skills and recognition is given to students’ non-academic achievements.
This year, JCPAs will include the achievements of students in English, which is the first subject to be examined under the new Framework for Junior Cycle. Science and Business Studies will be included in the JCPA for Students sitting their Junior Certificate in 2019 and further subjects will included over the following years.
A new grading system has been introduced for Junior Cycle and this new grading system will appear alongside the traditional Junior Certificate grading system on the JCPA until 2022, at which point, the Junior Certificate subjects (and the grading associated with them) will have been replaced fully by new Junior Cycle subjects.
The JCPA rewards achievement across all areas of learning as applicable:

• - Results in State Examinations
• - Achievements in Classroom Based Assessments for subjects and short courses
• - Wellbeing (reported on from 2020)
• - Children with special educational needs will be recognised for achievements in Priority Learning Units
• - Other areas of learning, e.g. participation in science fair, musical performance, member of student council.