The Transition Year is a year between the end of the Junior Certificate and the beginning of the Leaving Certificate. The mission of the Transition Year is to promote the personal, social, educational and vocational development of the students. Transition Year does not have a fixed curriculum, each school designs its own programme to meet the particular need of its students. A students learning difficulties can also be diagnosed and responded to by teachers during this year. One of the main benefits of the Transition Year is that by sampling a wide range of subject areas students can make more informed choices about the kind of Leaving Certificate Programme they may wish to follow. There is a space provided by the year for students to grow and mature as a sensitive and key stage of transition through adolescence into young adult life.

There is no formal examinations at the end of Transition Year, school-based forms of assessment are recommended. Employers are generally very supportive of the benefits of the Transition Year to students. It actively forces links with employers in the local community through work experience which is assessed by an employer.

There is not as much traditional homework in Transition Year as in other years. The students do projects, assignments, interviews and research on a variety of school topics. This year we are offering the students the chance to sit the ECDL Computer exam. The Transition Year is, at present, available in 569 schools and is taken by 29,351 students.