NCCA advises the Minister for Education on curriculum and assessment for early childhood education, for primary and post-primary schools. As part of the broader redevelopment of senior cycle, it is envisaged that a revised specification for Leaving Certificate Engineering will be introduced in schools from September 2026. The Development Group for Leaving Certificate Engineering will have a key role in this work. The group includes nominees of the education partners and other key education agencies.
Below you will find information on the subject development work including the background paper and brief for the review for this subject, and a note from each of the development group meetings.
The Draft Specification for Leaving Certificate Engineering has been approved for public consultation.
The draft specification for Leaving Certificate Engineering was made available for consultation from Monday 3rd March until 5pm on Friday 2nd May 2025. The consultation is now closed.
The consultation involved in-depth engagement with a wide variety of stakeholders across Ireland. Written Submissions were received from:
- Abtech Precision Ireland Ltd
- Acentryx Limited
- Alpha Spec Ltd
- ASTI
- AWP Engineering Ltd
- Bikar Metals
- Bolger Engineering
- Caragh Precision
- Dromone Engineering Limited
- Engineering Industries Ireland
- Engineering Technology Teachers Association - ETTA
- Flynn Engineering
- IDEA (Irish Development Education Association) Formal Education Working Group
- Kent Stainless
- Killala Precision Components Ltd
- Mann Engineering Ltd
- N&E Precision
- National Council for Special Education - NCSE
- O'Neill Industrial Ltd
- Penn Engineering
- Precision Tooling Machining Association - PTMA
- Reilly Plastics Ltd
- Rev 1 Precision Engineering
- SCHUNK Ireland
- Shannon Precision Engineering
- Slaney Precision Ltd
- Smithstown Light Engineering
- Specialty Cutting Tools Ltd
- Takumi Precision Engineering
- Technical Engineering & Tooling Services Ltd. - TEG
- The Engineering Technology Group – Ireland
- Total Precision Ltd
- WorldWise Global Schools
The first step in the redevelopment of Leaving Certificate Engineering was the development of a Background paper and brief for the review of the subject.
A public consultation on the Background Paper and Brief took place from April 8th 2024 to May 17th 2024 and a report on the consultation was published in September 2024.
The development group for Leaving Certificate Engineering was convened on 27th February 2024 and will progress the development of a redeveloped specification guided by the agreed brief.
Short descriptions of meetings that have taken place so far can be accessed below.