Non Curricular Languages for the Leaving Cert

So, you’re probably wondering first of all what a non-curricular subject is? A non-curricular subject at Senior Cycle is any subject that is not on your school’s curriculum. Now you’re probably wondering why you would do a subject that isn’t offered at your school. Well, there are a few reasons for this: Maybe you studied Japanese in your old school for TY and you’ve moved to a school that doesn’t offer it for Senior Cycle. Or maybe Portuguese is your first language, and you’d like to sit this as an examination subject. Is this possible? Absolutely!

So, next question... What can you do? A really great resource is Languages Connect website. They offer advice on language learning and have a link to free (Yes, said FREE!) Saturday classes run by the Post-Primary Languages Ireland and funded by the Department of Education. These classes run during term-time of fifth and sixth year. They offer classes in Polish, Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese, Lithuanian, Russian and Romanian. These are great as they will prepare you for the exam and what is required. These classes are offered in a few different locations around the country as well as some online classes. It is important that you register for these as soon as possible as they will book out quickly!

If you’re taking a language—or indeed another subject—that isn’t offered at your school, it is your responsibility to register this as an examination subject. You will get an opportunity to do this in Sixth-Year (usually around the February of Sixth-Year) when the candidate self-service portal opens. Your school will send you notification of when this portal opens. At this point, you will be able to register your extra subject along with all your other subjects that you will sit for the exams. Once you register your non-curricular subject, you will be given a date for your oral examination and an examination paper will be sent to your school to sit the examination in June. Just check the self-service portal to make sure you get confirmation that it has been registered.

You should note that if you’re studying a non-curricular subject, the likelihood is that you’ll have to organise your own mock exam paper and do this with a tutor as mock exams are in-house assessments organised by the school.

It’s really important that you register for the classes available as soon as possible to avoid missing out! If you have any questions about non-curricular languages for Leaving Cert, please get in touch with our Guidance Department here at Educating Éire for more information.

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Helpful Links:

https://www.curriculumonline.ie/Senior-cycle/Curriculum/ Here is a list of the full list of subjects that can be sat as Leaving Certificate Examinations.

https://www.examinations.ie/ This is where you’ll find all the information you need about the examinations and the candidate self-service portal.

https://languagesconnect.ie/language-classes/ Classes for non-curricular languages

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