Short Courses

Assessment in Junior Cycle 

Assessment at junior cycle places the student at the centre of the learning process allowing for new ways of learning and a broader range of skills to be assessed. 

Formative assessment, complemented by summative assessment, will be a key feature of the new Junior Cycle. (Framework for Junior Cycle 2015, p.35). 

The NCCA have developed a ‘Focus on Learning’ toolkit. These can support a whole-school approach to professional development and capacity building in developing effective, ongoing assessment practice which supports students' learning. 

The workshops and materials are designed to be used in a flexible manner around four topics: 

• Learning intentions and success criteria 

• Effective questioning 

• Formative feedback 

• Students reflecting on their learning 

The ‘Focus on Learning’ toolkit is available, via the NCCA, here

Assessment of Short Courses 

‘It is expected that most of the assessment activities during the teaching of short courses will be formative in nature. The evidence of learning will be generated according to the short course specification and will relate directly to the aims and learning outcomes of the short course. There will be no more than two Classroom-Based Assessments involved and the achievement of students will be described using a nationally determined common set of descriptors. Short courses will be assessed by the students’ teachers and reported on to students and parents/guardians during junior cycle and in the JCPA’ (Framework for Junior Cycle 2015, p.41-2). 

The assessment arrangement for each short course can be found within its appropriate Assessment Guidelines document. These can be found within the Key Documents.