How to Cheat in the Leaving Certificate | |
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Garret Baker in How to Cheat in the Leaving Certificate | |
Directed by | Graham Jones |
Written by |
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Produced by |
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Starring |
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Cinematography | Robbie Ryan |
Music by | Giles Packham |
Production company | Graham Jones Productions [1] |
Release date |
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Running time | 80 minutes [1] |
Country | Ireland |
How to Cheat in the Leaving Certificate is a 1997 independent Irish film directed by Graham Jones, in which six teenagers devise a plan to cheat in their Leaving Certificate final school examinations. The film was shot in black and white on Super 16mm and was later blown up to 35mm for theatrical distribution. Many well known Irish faces made cameo appearances in the film.
Upon being caught cheating in his Leaving Certificate exam and being banned from sitting the exam for another three years, a young man commits suicide. A close friend of his subsequently plots to cheat in his own Leaving Certificate in order to get revenge against the system. With the help of a rag-tag group of friends this young man organizes a complex scheme to steal copies of the test papers from the Department of Education and, upon winning, show the world he has beaten the system.
The Irish Film Board helped fund the film, contributing £90,000 to its production. [4] The film was shot in a six-week period. [5]
Writing for Variety , critic Emanuel Levy praised the film's "droll humor that is occasionally laced with irony", as well as Jones's "technical panache." [2] He added, "Once the premise has been set and central characters established, the film becomes less funny and more suspenseful regarding the final outcome of the scandalous act. Compensating for the plot’s narrow focus are the helmer’s bold visual style and the intermittently witty voiceover narration." [2] An Phoblacht called the film "an irreverent and rebellious diatribe against the Irish education system." [3]
A few weeks before the film went on general release in Ireland, the Junior Minister for Education, Willie O'Dea, condemned the film, leading to widespread coverage in newspapers, television, and radio. [6] [7] [4] Anxiety was partly due to the timing of the film's release, which occurred a few months before the annual summer exams. Other projects by Graham Jones, such as Fudge 44 , [8] have also caused controversy.
"I Hear You Breathing In", from Eleanor McEvoy's debut album, Eleanor McEvoy, and "Parachute" by Something Happens are some of the tracks featured in the film.
The Leaving Certificate Examination, commonly referred to as the Leaving Cert or (informally) the Leaving, is the final exam of the Irish secondary school system and the university matriculation examination in Ireland. It takes a minimum of two years' preparation, but an optional Transition Year means that for those students it takes place three years after the Junior Cycle examination. These years are referred to collectively as "The Senior Cycle". Most students taking the examination are aged 16–19; in excess of eighty percent of this group undertake the exam. The Examination is overseen by the State Examinations Commission. The Leaving Certificate Examinations are taken annually by approximately 60,000 students.
Education in the Republic of Ireland is a primary, secondary and higher education. In recent years further education has grown immensely with 51% of working age adults having completed higher education by 2020. Growth in the economy since the 1960s has driven much of the change in the education system. For universities there are student service fees, which students are required to pay on registration, to cover examinations, insurance and registration costs.
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An examination board is an organization that sets examinations, is responsible for marking them, and distributes the results. Some are run by governmental entities; some are run as not-for-profit organizations.
Willie O'Dea is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Limerick City constituency since 2011, and previously from 1982 to 2011 for the Limerick East constituency. He has served as Minister for Defence from 2004 to 2010, and was a Minister of State in different departments from 1992 to 1994, and again from 1997 to 2004.
Graham Jones is an Irish filmmaker.
St Columb's College is a Roman Catholic boys' grammar school in Derry, Northern Ireland. Since 2008, it has been a specialist school in mathematics. It is named after Saint Columba, the missionary monk from County Donegal who founded a monastery in the area. The college was originally built to educate young men into the priesthood, but now educates boys in a variety of disciplines.
Donnacha "The Don" O'Dea is an Irish professional poker player. In his youth, he was a swimmer, and represented Ireland in the 1968 Olympics. He was also the first Irish swimmer to swim 100m in less than one minute. His parents were actors Denis O'Dea and Siobhán McKenna.
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Colm O'Rourke is a Gaelic football manager, former player, retired secondary school principal, sports broadcaster and columnist. He has been manager of the Meath county team since 2022.
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An academic certificate or tech certificate is a document that certifies that a person has received specific education or has passed a test or series of tests.
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Ballyfermot College of Further Education is an educational institution in Ballyfermot, Dublin, Ireland, a college of further and higher education.
Mary McEvoy is an Irish actress. She is recognised by television viewers for having played the role of Biddy Byrne in Glenroe from 1983 to 2000. After that she has been in numerous plays, including Big Maggie, Sive, The Field, The Chastitute, The Vagina Monologues, Shirley Valentine, The Matchmaker, The Year of the Hiker, Dancing at Lughnasa, Whippy, The Life and Times of Selma Mae, Moonlight and Music and Jo Bangles. She is also noted for her washing powder advertisements on television.
Ashfield College is a private post-primary school founded in 1977 and located in Dundrum in Dublin, Ireland. The school offers preparation for the Leaving Certificate examination, both as a two-year leaving certificate senior cycle, but also as a one-year programme. The school also caters for overseas students wishing to study in Ireland for the Irish leaving certificate. Twenty one leaving certificate subjects are taught at the school, and the school uses e-learning facilities, and students can access course material, including recorded lectures online. As well as the popular subjects for the leaving cert some less common leaving cert subjects of Arabic, Agricultural Science and Classical Studies are also available at Ashfield. The school offers a career guidance service to students with advice on academic and career issues, such as advice on completing the Irish CAO college application process or the UK UCAS system.
The Junior Cycle is the first stage of the education programme for post-primary education within the Republic of Ireland. It is overseen by the Department of Education and the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA), and its terminal examination, the Junior Certificate, by the State Examinations Commission.
Norma Foley is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who has served as Minister for Education since June 2020. She has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for Kerry since 2020.
On 12 March 2020, all schools, colleges, and childcare facilities in the Republic of Ireland were shut down in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The shutdown resulted in the cancellation of the 2020 Leaving Certificate and 2020–2021 Junior Certificate examinations, as well as all 2020–2021 Irish language summer courses in the Gaeltacht.