How to Cheat in the Leaving Certificate | |
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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.
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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.
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