Junior Certificate

The Junior Certificate (Irish: Teastas Sóisearach) is an educational qualification awarded in Ireland by the Department of Education to students who have successfully completed the junior cycle of secondary education, and achieved a minimum standard in their Junior Cert. examinations.

These exams, like those for the Leaving Certificate, are supervised by the State Examinations Commission.

A "recognised pupil" who commences the Junior Cycle must reach at least 12 years of age on January 1 of the school year of admission and must have completed primary education; the examination is normally taken after three years' study in a secondary school. Typically a student takes 9 to 12 subjects – including English, Irish and Mathematics – as part of the Junior Cycle. The examination does not reach the standards for college or university entrance; instead a school leaver in Ireland will typically take the Leaving Certificate Examination two or three years after completion of the Junior Certificate in order to reach that standard.

The objective of the Junior Cycle is:

...to provide a well-balanced, general education suitable for pupils who leave full-time education at the end of compulsory schooling or, alternatively, who wish to enter on more advanced courses of study.

The 2011 Junior Certificate started on 8th of June and finished on 24 June 2011, while the 2012 Junior Certificate started on the 6th of June and finished on the 21st of June 2012. The 2013 Junior Certificate will begin on the 5th of June 2013.