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Minister for Education Norma Foley has announced that from the start of the new academic year in September, Leaving Certificate students will be able to study Ukrainian.
The students entering fifth year this coming September will be able to choose the subject for the first time, with the first Leaving Certificate cohort sitting the exam in June 2025. As a non-curricular language, there is no oral examination and the exam will be sat at higher level only, offering an option primarily for native speakers.
The new subject has been introduced after the arrival of thousands of Ukrainians to the country since the outbreak of the war in February 2022. Of the approximately 15,000 children recorded to have arrived in the state, 5,200 of those are now enrolled in secondary school. Some 100 Ukrainian post-primary teachers have also been admitted to the Teaching Council register in the last year.
Minister Foley said: “As a nation, Ireland has stood firmly with the people of Ukraine. It is right that we would do so. It is clear to me that you share this commitment. I see this every time I visit your schools and see how much has been done to welcome Ukrainian pupils to your classrooms and to your communities”.
Other non-curricular languages available to be sat in the Leaving Certificate include all official languages of the EU and others including Mandarin-Chinese and Japanese. For more information visit the Leaving Certificate Subject Choice area.
