A consultation with young people on the reform of the Junior Cycle took place in November 2010. The consultation was organised by the Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs (OMCYA), the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) and the Dáil an nÓg Council.

The consultation arose from one of the top two recommendations voted for by delegates at the 9th Dáil na nÓg in March 2010 and also the NCCA’s consultation process on the reform of the Junior Cycle. That recommendation stated that: ‘The Department of Education and Skills should lengthen the Leaving Cert cycle to 3 years and reduce the Junior Cert cycle to 2 years.’

A total of 88 young people, aged 12-18, from various Comhairlí na nÓg around Ireland took part in the consultation. They were divided into groups of Junior Cycle students or Senior Cycle students, with each group discussing the following topics:

• what they most enjoyed learning in their whole lives;
• the most useful thing they have ever learned;
• what they most enjoyed learning in primary school;
• what they most enjoy learning now;
• the Junior Cycle curriculum;
• assessment;
• how they like to learn;
• what they would change if they were Minister for Education and Skills for a day.