As the deadline for CAO applications approaches tomorrow, students are calling for clarity on this year's State exams.
Discussions on whether the traditional Leaving exams will go ahead in 2021 are set to continue this week.
It comes after the Education Minister Norma Foley and an exams advisory group met on Friday, hearing from student groups, parents, teachers and school managers.
Meanwhile, a source told the Sunday Independent today that holding both the Leaving Cert and Junior Cert exams over the same time period would be "unlikely" due to social distancing protocols.
The Irish Second-Level Students' Union have called for students to be given a choice between calculated grades or sitting the exams.
Union President, Ruben Murray, told Newstalk Breakfast with Susan Keogh that Leaving Cert students want a choice.
"We did a survey of over 25,000 students and one of the things that came back very clearly was that the communication from the Department [of Education] is not strong enough and it needs to improve," he said.
"Students have no idea what's going to happen with their exams, there hasn't been that clarity there.
"Students want a choice, after the disruption they've faced they want a choice between sitting the exams, scaled-down, or calculated grades.
Mr Murray added that a call also needs to be made on practical and oral exams soon.
He explained: "[Students] want the oral and practical exams cancelled because they are underprepared, but we don't want to disadvantage students who have that strength.
"So cancel them as they are planned, and then do some scaled-back practical and oral assessments as part of a regime of continues assessment, that's what the student body wants."
ISSU Survey Results:
Students Want Choice & Clear Communication from Department on State Examinations & Schools Reopening
Read the full report:
🔗: https://t.co/hOTVUA0fHh pic.twitter.com/nzAHlujtdI— Irish Second-Level Students' Union (ISSU) (@issu4u) January 20, 2021
Earlier this week, there was a call for Leaving Cert students and teachers to be prioritised for vaccination against COVID-19 to ensure the State exams go ahead.
Sportsman and school principal Colm O’Rourke said inoculating the sixth years and staff would provide a “simple solution” to the State exam issue.
“If you designate teachers as essential workers - and I think most people would agree that they are when you have up to one million people depending on schools being open - I think there is a very strong case to ensure teachers are vaccinated early,” he said.
“As well as that, if the Leaving Cert is so important that it gets so much airtime, I think it is only reasonable to say the Leaving Cert cohort should be vaccinated along with the teachers.”
It comes as a child and adolescent psychotherapist warned that those particularly impacted by the disruption of the pandemic are college and Leaving Cert students who are reporting "huge amounts of anxiety".
