Junior cert Irish chief examiners report

<< Tips & Advice

March 28, 2025

Junior cert Irish chief examiners report

Irish: Irish-medium schools (L1) This is for Irish speaking schools.

The final examination in Irish: Irish-medium schools (L1) is of two hours’ duration and is available at Higher and Ordinary levels. Candidates are required to demonstrate their language skills by responding to a variety of tasks related to language and literature. There is an emphasis on the integration of different language skills and interactive personal communication, as set out in the specification. These skills include receptive skills (listening and reading) and productive skills (creative composition, language awareness, and personal responses to literary texts). There are 270 marks for the final examination and the weighting of the marks for the various language skills is as follows:

Higher level: 35% for receptive skills and 55% for productive skills

Ordinary level: 55% for receptive skills and 35% for productive skills.

At each level these sum to 90%, as the remaining 10% is for the Assessment Task.

Some good practices observed

The following good practices were observed with varying degrees of frequency in the material presented by candidates for the 2022 examinations. Where they occurred, they assisted candidates in scoring well.

In the listening part of the examination, candidates understood speech by a range of different speakers and on a wide range of topics, and understood information presented at normal speaking speed.
It was clear that the skills related to listening were well developed, in that meanings, details, and arguments, were well understood.
Candidates showed a good understanding of the different dialects in Irish and responded well to them.
Candidates managed to present and express their answers accurately and clearly.
It was clear that the questions asked and key words were understood.
Candidates showed very good understanding of the main details and main messages in the reading comprehensions and recognised specific terms and details in a variety of texts.
A high number of candidates managed to find the appropriate information points in the reading comprehension passages for most of the questions and they approached the texts critically using a wide vocabulary and appropriate language.
Most of the candidates tried to express their own personal views regarding different aspects of the reading comprehension texts.
Most candidates were able to compose relevant texts in their own personal style.
Many candidates provided good pieces of ad-rem writing for the various questions.
It was noted in the compositions that productive skills were well developed in many cases.
Many candidates demonstrated a very good understanding of language patterns, such as syntax, verbs, nouns, correct spelling and punctuation, and often used them correctly.
Candidates were often expressing their own personal views in relation to stimulus material. They sometimes gave clear explanations of those views and developed them.
It was clear that some candidates had engaged intensively with and had developed a deep understanding and good knowledge of the literary texts. Many of them gave comprehensive and personal answers to these questions, and integrated language skills were also noticeable here.
Accurate answers were given regarding certain aspects of the literary texts: accurate references were made to the texts; personal opinions, feelings and emotions were expressed; understanding and imagination were evident.
It was clear that candidates had developed their critical skills in relation to the literary texts in many cases.
In the questions related to the literary texts, candidates showed an understanding of the key words.

Advice on engaging with the written examination

The following advice will assist with ensuring that candidates demonstrate their levels of achievement to full effect when engaging with the written examination.

It is recommended that an integrated communicative approach be used in all teaching and learning activities. The integrated communicative approach contributes greatly to understanding, vocabulary, confidence and the capacity to use the language in a comfortable and natural way.
Teachers and students should use various media to listen to natural spoken Irish at normal speed. The students should be able to understand the messages of Irish communication and recognise details in speech at normal speed.
Links should be made between the knowledge and skills needed to answer the questions in the Listening part of the examination and those needed to answer the questions related to the other strands of the specification.
In the examination, candidates should focus on the precise wording of the questions to ensure that they adapt their knowledge so as to answer directly the demand of the questions asked. It is recommended that attention be paid in advance of the examination to understanding the meanings of commonly used “command words” and to the need to pay attention to these and other key words in the questions.
During all different kinds of teaching and learning activity in the classroom, emphasis should be placed on saying things in different ways and on integrating the different language skills, including listening skills, as much as possible.
It is recommended that students practice writing Irish regularly in order to expand and enrich their vocabulary. For these L1 learners, accuracy of Irish should be emphasised – that is, the correct use of nouns, verb tenses, adjectives; the correct use of plurals; the syntax of the Irish language, etc.
Students should be given reading opportunities with appropriate challenge and on a regular basis and they should use a wide range of decoding strategies to explore reading. Also, in the examination, candidates are advised to respond to the reading in their own natural language and express their own personal opinions in relation to the various questions.
It is recommended that an appreciation of the different genres of literature be developed and demonstrated, and this goes beyond giving basic information in response to questions. Candidates should demonstrate accurate knowledge of a variety of aspects of the literary texts, make clear references to the texts, state personal opinions and feelings in relation to the texts, and show an understanding of and imagination about the literary texts.
Candidates should be prepared to demonstrate their critical skills in relation to literary texts.
It is essential to use literature as a source and tool for teaching and learning as well as to enrich and expand vocabulary. As stated in the specification, ‘it is recommended that the development of language skills and literature be integrated in the classroom to support the students’ language development‘. It is through this approach that candidates will develop the capacity to demonstrate all the language skills when responding to literature, rather than just providing basic knowledge.
One of the central messages of the specification is the integrated approach to the development of the five major language skills together, rather than developing a single skill in isolation. The examination is designed to require the same approach. That is, a range of different skills is very often required within one question and candidates should be prepared for this.

Irish: English-medium schools (L2)

The final examination in Irish: English-medium schools (L2) is of two hours’ duration and is available at Higher and Ordinary levels. Candidates are required to demonstrate their language skills by responding to a variety of tasks related to language and literature. There is an emphasis on the integration of different language skills and interactive personal communication, as set out in the specification. These skills include receptive skills (listening and reading) and productive skills (creative composition, language awareness, and personal responses to literary texts). There are 270 marks for the final examination and the weighting of the marks for the various language skills is as follows:

Higher level: 35% for receptive skills and 55% for productive skills

Ordinary level: 55% for receptive skills and 35% for productive skills.

At each level these sum to 90%, as the remaining 10% is for the Assessment Task

Some good practice observed

In the listening part of the examination, candidates understood speech by a range of different speakers and on a wide range of topics, and understood information related to a young person’s life.
It was clear that the skills related to listening were well developed.
Candidates showed a good understanding of the different dialects.
Candidates managed to present and express their answers accurately and clearly.
It was clear that the questions asked and key words were understood. The majority of the candidates demonstrated a high level of reading ability and engaged with the reading comprehension questions effectively by referencing relevant details and information points accurately in their answers.
Most of the candidates tried to express their own personal views regarding certain aspects of the reading comprehension texts.
Most candidates were able to compose relevant texts.
Many candidates provided substantial pieces of ad-rem writing for the various questions.
It was noted in the compositions that productive skills were well developed in many cases.
Many candidates demonstrated an understanding of language patterns, such as syntax, verbs, nouns, correct spelling and punctuation, etc., and often used them correctly.
Candidates were often expressing their own personal views in relation to the stimulus material.
Candidates gave a clear explanation of their views.
Many candidates gave comprehensive and personal responses to the questions based on the literary texts; integrated language skills were also noticeable.
Good answers were often given regarding aspects of the literary texts: references were made to the texts; personal opinions and feelings about the texts were expressed; understanding and imagination were evident.
It was clear that candidates had developed their critical skills in relation to the literary texts.
In the questions related to the literary texts, candidates showed an understanding of the key words.

Advice on engaging with the written examination

The following advice will assist with ensuring that candidates demonstrate their levels of achievement to full effect when engaging with the written examination.

It is recommended that the integrated communicative approach be used in all teaching and learning activities. The integrated communicative approach contributes greatly to understanding, vocabulary, confidence and the capacity to use the language in a comfortable and natural way.
It is important to give the students opportunities to speak Irish naturally and to listen to Irish every day in the classroom.
Teachers and students should use various media to listen to spoken Irish.
In the examination, candidates should focus on the precise wording of the questions to ensure that they adapt their knowledge so as to answer directly the demand of the questions asked. It is recommended that attention be paid in advance of the examination to understanding the meanings of commonly used “command words” and to the need to pay attention to these and other key words in the questions.
During all different kinds of teaching and learning activity, emphasis should be placed on saying things in different ways and the different language skills, including listening skills, should be integrated as much as possible.
Links should be made between the knowledge and skills needed to answer the questions in the Listening part of the examination and those needed to answer the questions related to the other strands of the specification.
Students should be able to understand the main messages of Irish communication that are related to everyday life and recognise certain details of ordinary things in speech, such as numbers, dates, money, counties, cities, Gaeltacht areas, common place names, other countries, etc.
It is recommended that students practice composition regularly in order to expand their vocabulary, improve their spelling, develop their understanding of tenses, and focus on the structures of the Irish language. Emphasis should also be placed on the grammar of Irish – that is, nouns, verb tenses, adjectives, the correct use of plurals, the syntax of Irish, etc.
Students should be given reading opportunities on a regular basis and they should use a wide range of appropriate decoding strategies to explore reading. Attention is again drawn to the integration of all language skills during reading and associated learning activities. Also, in the examination, candidates are advised to respond to the reading in their own natural language and express their own personal opinions in relation to the various questions, when asked to do so.
It is recommended that an appreciation of the different genres of literature be developed and demonstrated, and this goes beyond giving basic information in response to questions. Candidates should state personal opinions and feelings in relation to the texts, and show an understanding of and imagination about the literary texts.
It would be expected that candidates would be able to demonstrate their critical skills in relation to literary texts.
It is essential to use literature as a source and tool for teaching and learning as well as to enrich and expand vocabulary. As stated in the specification, ‘it is recommended that the development of language skills and literature be integrated in the classroom to support the students’ language development‘. It is through this approach that candidates will develop the capacity to demonstrate all the language skills when responding to literature.
One of the central messages of the specification is an integrated approach to the development of the five major language skills together, rather than developing a single skill in isolation. The examination is designed to require the same approach. That is, a range of different skills is very often required within one question and candidates should be prepared for this.