The Irish Second Level Students Union (ISSU) is demanding that Oral Examination times be changed to before the Easter break, reverting back to the timetable in place pre-pandemic. Students are put under undue pressure by taking the orals during Easter. This cuts into a deserved holiday period which both students and teachers need to rest.

The ISSU recognises that the current time of orals was suited to the special circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic. The current circumstances that students and teachers find themselves in have changed and therefore it is no longer suitable to conduct the orals during easter. 

ISSU Uachtarán‎ Shari Irfan commented, “Easter break is for many students a time to catch their breath before they head into the Leaving Certificate exams. Conducting the Orals Examinations during the easter period puts students, families and teachers under undue pressure. It must be acknowledged that the current timing was suited to special circumstances as we settle back into the normal rhythm of things, so should the orals. 

A poll conducted via the ISSU social media shows that 71% of students would like to sit there orals before Easter, only 29% of students want them to go on as normal.

Students have also spoken out against the Irish Oral, more specifically the Sraithpictiúr segment. The Irish Oral accounts for 40% of your overall grade in the subject, 80 out of 240 marks are given to the Sraithpictúir. On the course, students are asked to learn 20 Straithpictúir and are examined on only 1, in the previous 2 years students have been required to learn 10 under the pandemic adjustments, however these are not due to carry on for the Leaving Cert class of 2025. 

Roisin Myers, sat her leaving cert last year and said “I remember feeling disappointed coming out of my Irish oral. For two years I had spent countless hours perfecting the other nine sraithpictiur, embellishing them with nathanna cainte and seanfhocail while keeping exactly within the time constraints of three minutes'' 

“I sacrificed precious time that could’ve been spent preparing for the comhrá questions, my written paper or my other subjects which I was due to sit in just two months.”

Current fifth year students have begun learning their 20 Straithpictúir for Leaving Cert 2025 and the ISSU is calling on the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, State Examinations Commission and Department of Education to make 10 Straithpictúir the standard for every year starting in 2025. 

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