The Irish Times reports today that a draft circular has been issued to teachers' unions and education partners by the Department of Education which marks some significant changes to how the Junior Cert will be graded.

According to the report, the traditional A/B/C grading system will be discarded in favour of 'merits' or 'distinction' grades instead.

It is proposed that students who acheive a grade between 90 -100% will receive a 'distinction'; between 75-90% will award a 'higher merit'; between 55-75% will get a 'merit' and between 40-55% will get an 'achieved' grade. Students who score between 20 - 40% will be given a 'partially acheived' grading while those who fail to pass the 20% mark will receive a 'no grade'.

It is expected that the new grading system will be introduced for the final written exam in English next year and will be applied to all other subjects in the following years.

The new proposal comes as part of reforms to ensure less emphasis is placed on rote-learning and written exams for the Junior Cert.

Source: Irish Times

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