The LCVP is a Leaving Certificate programme with a focus on enterprise and preparation for working life. This two-year programme combines the academic strengths of the Leaving Certificate Established programme with a dynamic focus on self-directed learning, enterprise, work and the community. In most ways the LCVP is like the established Leaving Certificate. LCVP students take two additional courses, called Link Modules, in the areas of Preparation for the World of Work and Enterprise Education.
The Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme (LCVP) is an intervention designed to enhance the vocational dimension of the Leaving Certificate (established).
The primary goal of the LCVP is to prepare young people for adult life by ensuring that they are educated in the broadest sense, with an ability to cope and thrive in an environment of rapid change. Participants in the programme are encouraged to develop skills and competencies fundamental to both academic and vocational success.
Throughout the programme students are encouraged to:
- Be innovative and enterprising
- Take responsibility for their own learning
- Adapt to changing circumstances
- Evaluate data and devise solutions to problems
- Communicate their thoughts and ideas effectively
- Work with others as part of a team
- Investigate and plan career options
- Use information and communications technologies
- Investigate local businesses and community enterprises
- Learn from their experiences
These skills and qualities are equally relevant to the needs of those preparing for further education, seeking employment or planning to start their own business.
The Link Modules
Students taking the Leaving Certificate Examination will follow two Link Modules over the course of the two years.
Link Module I – Preparation for the World of Work
This module is designed to develop students’ general understanding of the world of work, introduce them to career research and provide them with the knowledge and skills to find employment. As part of this module each student is expected to complete a career investigation and engage in a work experience or work shadowing placement
Link Module II – Enterprise Education
This module aims to develop creativity, resourcefulness, self-confidence and initiative. Students are encouraged to interview enterprising people, investigate local enterprises and to set up their own enterprise projects as vehicles of learning. The content of the module is flexible to allow a school to utilise local resources and enable learning to take place in as wide a variety of settings
as possible.
Typically, LCVP students take seven Leaving Certificate Subjects plus the Link Modules.
Digital Technology
The ability to use digital technology confidently is a skill that will maximise students’ potential both at school and in their future life, work and study. The LCVP provides opportunities for students to develop their digital skills and to apply them in a practical way.
Students will be able to use digital devices to
• create, edit, save, store, retrieve and print documents
• prepare a range of documents including CVs, letters, reports and illustrated documents
• access and use relevant information from online sources
• send and receive emails.
Assessment, Certification and Reporting
Assessment of Leaving Certificate Subjects
LCVP students follow the same subject syllabuses and are assessed in the same way as their peers in the Leaving Certificate (established).
Assessment of the Link Modules
The Link Modules, Preparation for the World of Work and Enterprise Education are treated as a unit for assessment purposes. Assessment, which is at a common level, comprises two elements, a Terminal Examination Paper (40%) and a Portfolio of Coursework (60%). Both are assessed by the State Examinations Commission (SEC).
Certification
LCVP students receive the same certificate as students of the Leaving Certificate (established). An additional statement of the grade received for the Link Modules is appended to the certificate. Grades for the Link Modules are awarded as follows:
- Distinction (80 – 100%)
- Merit (65 – 79%)
- Pass (50 – 64%)
LCVP students have the same opportunity to proceed to universities and other third level institutions as students in the Leaving Certificate (established).
The Link Modules are presently recognised in points terms as follows:
• Distinction 66 points
• Merit 46 points
• Pass 28 points
