Problems with New SEC Guidelines
A major issue has emerged in the rollout of the new Leaving Certificate assessment plans: rules for authenticating student coursework—once required only in certain subjects—will now apply to all subjects. The coursework will be worth up to 40% of the final grade. For home‑educated students, this change creates serious barriers that have yet to be addressed.
The State Examinations Commission (SEC) recently published the Consolidated Coursework Rules and Procedures. This publication states that coursework by home-schooled candidates who are carrying out coursework on their own or, with private tuition, outside a school or centre will not be accepted. The only way coursework will be accepted by such candidates is if it is carried out ‘in a recognised school’ where it can be ‘authenticated by the class teacher and principal of the recognised school’.
Concerns about these changes are not new. The SEC was alerted regarding these concerns two months before it published the Consolidated Coursework Rules and Procedures in November 2025. On September 2nd, 2025, Home Education Rights Ireland contacted Ms. Andrea Feeney, CEO of the SEC, outlining significant worries about how the revised assessment system would impact home‑educated students. As of today, no response has been received.
A System Designed for Classrooms — Not Home Education
Both the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) and the SEC have stated clearly that Assessment and Authentication Components (AACs) must be carried out within a classroom setting, over an extended period, with continuous communication between student and teacher. This is considered essential for ensuring the authenticity of each student’s work.
Yet the SEC suggests that home‑educated students may be able to make arrangements with a recognized school, so they can meet these requirements. They must make these arrangements themselves – find a school, approach the principal, explain the situation, etc.
This approach effectively reduces home‑educated students to second‑class citizens. It places them in a fundamentally unequal position compared to their school‑going peers.
Why the Proposed Arrangements Are Unacceptable
1. They Require Classroom Attendance—Contradicting Constitutional Rights
Under the proposed model, a home‑educated student would need to attend a school classroom for approximately 20 hours per subject to complete the AAC, and to provide the teacher and principal with evidence to legitimately authenticate their work. This directly conflicts with the constitutional right of parents to educate their children at home.
Article 42.3 of the Constitution is unambiguous: “The State shall not oblige parents in violation of their conscience and lawful preference to send their children to schools established by the State, or to any particular type of school designated by the State.”
By making classroom attendance ‘necessary’ for up to 40% of a student’s Leaving Certificate grade, the State is effectively forcing home‑educated students into schools—contrary to constitutional protections.
2. Access Depends Entirely on a School’s Willingness
Recognised schools are not required to accept home‑educated students for coursework completion. They may do so at their discretion but are under no obligation.
Many schools already struggle to authenticate the work of their own students. Expecting them to take on external candidates is unrealistic. If no school agrees to facilitate a home‑educated student, that student simply cannot complete the AAC—and loses up to 40% of their marks in any affected subject.
This outcome represents a serious failure by the State not only to allow constitutional rights, but to actively protect and uphold them.
A Call for Fairness and Equal Access
The Department of Education must urgently develop an equitable and constitutionally compliant pathway for home‑educated students to complete AACs. No student should be placed at an academic or legal disadvantage because they are educated outside a traditional school setting.
The question we have for the Minister for Education is this: Why are you refusing to provide home‑educated students with a viable, equitable pathway for completing the AACs—one that respects their educational choices and their constitutional rights? Until this question is answered and meaningful solutions are put in place, home‑educated students remain unfairly excluded from full participation in the reformed Leaving Certificate. This is a fundamental breach of the constitutional right to home educate.
We would encourage you to contact the Minister for Education, Hildegarde Naughton TD directly and raise this issue with her, and also to get in touch with your local representatives and the Education Spokespersons in the Oireachtas.
Contact details are here.
Please get in touch with us if you have any queries on this issue, or on home education in general.
