Soft skills, such as team work and communication, could be awarded CAO points in the future.
Education Minister Norma Foley says policy makers are looking at a potential expansion of the Leaving Cert system to incorporate examined skills.
Some students were born to be academic, while the talents of others may lie elsewhere, in public speaking or project management, for example.
Education Minister Norma Foley says “soft skills” like these could contribute to students’ final grades in the future.
Irish Second Level Students Union Deputy President Adam Lambe welcomes the prospect.
"The curriculum outlines loads of different competencies and outcomes for the curricula but none of these they are not actually examined.
"It can be anything from public speaking, to team work skills to skills you require from work experience."
Guidance Counsellor Brian Mooney says expanding the curriculum would give graduates an edge:
"Irish students are in a very competitive environment now with students from all over the world even for jobs here in this country.
"She wants to work with the teachers unions and she wants to provide the students, which is wide an broad an, assessment of their skills that they are going to need in the workplace.
Social Democrats Education Spokesperson Gary Gannon says he hopes Minister Foley brings about these changes:
"No benefit comes from a faithless exam were we basically sit students down at the end of a 6th year senior cycle and then tell them to regurgitate all their knowledge onto a piece of paper.
The changes under consideration would add to recent reforms, which will see English and Irish paper one examined at the end of fifth year.
