Minister for Education Norma Foley has confirmed that this year's Leaving Certificate and Junior Cycle will be held as exams only.
However, she has given a commitment that the profile of grades received by students in this year's exams will be no lower than those of last year.
This means that a similar number of H1s, H2s etc should be awarded to students this year compared to 2021.
It will be hoped that this will address a key concern of this year's students that they are competing for college places against students from last year who received bumper grades.
The minister also pointed out that, insofar as she was aware, no EU country was offering accredited grades this year.
She said students would be offered even greater choice in their exams this year compared to 2019 and 2018, with papers that were "radically different".
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The adjustments to be made to papers this year will be the same as those that were made last year.
She said there have been significant changes to Leaving Cert assessments, across papers and other assessment components, and these are aimed at lessening "the load for candidates".
The Junior Cycle exams will also take place for the first time since 2019.
What should stay in schools after the pandemic?
One in four Leaving Cert students do not have Junior Cert data and so it would not be possible to fairly provide for accredited grades, Minister for Education Norma Foley has said | Read more: https://t.co/CGokQoIL6k pic.twitter.com/nwgYbRWJlI
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) February 1, 2022
Minister Foley said the department was not in a position to offer what was in place last year, where students had the option of accredited grades or sitting an exam.
She said offering accredited grades again this year had been examined, but the fact that one in four students had not sat Junior Cycle exams meant that this was not going to be feasible. These are students who did not do Transition Year.
On that basis, she said that this year's exams would be written, but contain "greater choice" in the questions and that she wanted to make the exams as fair as was possible.
She said every option was fully explored in relation to the exams.
The minister also confirmed that an alternative set of Leaving Cert examinations will be held following the main set of examinations, to provide for students who may experience a close family bereavement, Covid-19 illness and certain other categories of serious illness, during the first examination period.
The timetable for the written Leaving Cert and Junior Cycle examinations is expected to be published by the SEC shortly and arrangements for Leaving Certificate orals and practical music exams are already in place.
Minister Foley said the changes to this year's exams would be "tailor-made for the circumstances in which we find ourselves" and there would be considerably more choice and less content that students had to have studied.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin said that Minister Foley had now opted to give "a very wide choice" to students.
He said students should look at papers in 2021 as a guide and that there will be details in terms of syllabus published in the coming days by the State Examinations Commission.
In Maths, in each paper, instead of having to answer all ten questions, candidates will have to answer six, he said.
In Biology, candidates will have to answer only eight, instead of 11 questions, and "can further focus on a reduced range of mandatory activities".
In English paper one, candidates will only have to answer half of the amount of "comprehending questions" as usual, while in English paper two they only have to answer two instead of all three sections.
In Art, the coursework has been almost halved, life-sketching has been removed entirely, and the number of questions to be answered on the written paper has been reduced from three to two.
It represents a dramatic widening of choice compared to 2019, Mr Martin said.
Changes have been made to Junior Cyle requirements too, among them a reduction in the number of classroom-based assessments from two to one.
Widest possible consultation with parents - Foley
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Minister Foley said that there was the "widest possible consultation" with parents, students and teachers before decisions were made on the Leaving Certificate.
Speaking on RTÉ's Six One News, Ms Foley defended the decision not to offer students a hybrid system, insisting that it was not possible to do so when there was no Junior Cycle examination data for 25% of sixth year students.
Read more: Important promise made to Leaving Certificate students
"In previous years, we relied upon the Junior Cycle data to provide their comparability. We don't have that data for one-in-four of our students, so the accredited grades of last year could not be offered to the class of 2022," Ms Foley said.
She said that the written exams in June will be "significantly different exams to what students would have experienced in the past."
She added that the calculated grades system for 2020 and the hybrid system that was in place last year, were "in recognition that we were in Covid times, we were in a pandemic and very difficult and challenging times for all concerned."
When asked if the Department of Education has contingency plans in the event of another wave of Covid-19, Ms Foley said: "We always have contingency plans, and as I said earlier, we have met the challenges.
"There has been remarkable resilience and flexibility in the education sector. So, we will continue to meet the challenges head on, but I do think that we're in a much better and brighter position now."
Mixed reaction to exam-only Leaving Cert
The principal of St Patrick's Classical School in Navan described the decision to hold traditional Leaving Cert exams this year as "the least worst option", but said it was a pity the decision was not made back in September.
Colm O'Rourke said the accredited grades system has become completely discredited.
"You cannot have a situation where over a space of two years, you had 200 plus getting 70 H1s and then it jumps to 900 H1s," he said.
Speaking on RTÉ's Today with Claire Byrne, he said students would chose the hybrid system if given a choice, but a system with objective standards must be run and the Leaving Cert, for all its failings, delivers that.
Mr O'Rourke said radical reform of the Leaving Cert is needed going forward, but said there is stress and pressure on students no matter what they do in life and this is something they must learn to cope with.
Last week, the General Secretary of the Association of Secondary Teachers, Ireland (ASTI) said there would be "a number of problems" associated with a hybrid Leaving Cert model this year.
Kieran Christie was speaking after an online survey carried out by the Irish Second-Level Students' Union found that 68% of Leaving Cert students want a hybrid State exam model this year.
Mr Christie said the ASTI does acknowledge that it is a difficult position for everybody, but it is "strongly of the view" that the established Leaving Cert should go ahead.
Read more: Sinn Féin leader says decision not to offer hybrid exams 'appalling'
A hybrid Leaving Cert exam was available to the class of 2021, where students were offered accredited grades or also had the option of sitting an exam. They were then awarded the highest grade from whichever option they chose.
Recently, the Ombudsman for Children said he was fully supportive of the demand by Leaving Certificate students for a hybrid approach to assessment this year, to include an accredited grades option.
Dr Niall Muldoon was speaking after students held protests to highlight their concern at plans to proceed with a traditional Leaving Certificate this year.
They called for a fairer approach to assessment this year and many want to see accredited grades offered again as a choice.
Additional reporting Paul Cunningham, David Murphy
