Leaving Cert Applied

dmck2886

I did LCA and I know I would of been well able to have done the normal leaving. Just wondering what people opinions are on LCA and the people that do it.

newgrange

The LCA is a different exam to the Established Leaving - it's no better or no worse. There are many people who do the LCA who could have done the Established if they wanted to, but knew it was not the career path they wanted to go down, and fair play to them for being mature enough to make that decision. The college route is of course always open to LCA students, should they wish to pursue it, and many do, following a few years working, where they gain a much clearer idea of the field they want to go into.

Sadly there are a much larger number of people who take the Established Leaving Cert., only to end up with a qualification that is neither one thing nor the other - not enough to get them into a college course, and not helpful in anyway to an employer looking for someone straight from school. Looks like we need better Career Guidance in this country.

When run properly within a school, the LCA is a fantastic course, and gives credit for skills and aptitudes the Established Leaving doesn't measure at all, but that in the real world are the factors employers want to know about.

It very much depends on the teaching personnel involved, and I personally know of some schools where the teachers involved are quite conservative and never wanted to introduce it to their school, and in such schools it is a terrible course.

I also know of schools where the LCA was embraced enthusiastically by the teachers involved and where very progressive things are being done, to a very high standard. In one such school, they have even offered one very popular module to Established Leaving Cert. students who asked for it as an extra option after school.

Kate_17

In my school it was appalling... inmates taking over the asylum. Only good thing was they weren't in our normal LC classes.

abercrombie

hmmm...LCA in my school woz generally for the thick people ((not directed at u like, just saying in my school))! For those who were'nt great academically or who had learning difficulties or for those, like knacker guys who thought they were so tough and loud

dmck2886

abercrombie wrote:

hmmm...LCA in my school woz generally for the thick people ((not directed at u like, just saying in my school))! For those who were'nt great academically or who had learning difficulties

The reason me and my mates did LCA was because we are going to be getting apprenticeship's and the work experience in LCA would help us in the future, not cause we were thick.