Published in: Education in Chemistry
Abstract:
Article on science education in Ireland’s Transition Year alongside contributions from science teachers in Northern Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales.
Clerkin, A. (2026). Six strategies for bridging the transition to post-16 chemistry: Ireland’s Transition Year model. Education in Chemistry. https://edu.rsc.org/ideas/how-to-manage-the-transition-from-pre-to-post-16-chemistry/4022624.article
Published in: Irish Educational Studies
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Work experience is regarded as a vital component of Transition Year (TY) by students, parents, and teachers. Despite this centrality, the manner in which placements are organised has evolved in an ad hoc manner, and limited attention has been paid to the perspectives of hosting organisations. This study explores the experiences and views of 11 providers of TY placements. Situating TY work experience within its historical and policy context and drawing on research on work-based learning and career development, the paper examines providers’ motivations, expectations, and challenges. While organisations expressed strong commitment to supporting young people’s early engagement with the world of work, the findings reveal significant ambiguities concerning the educational purpose of placements and the nature of school-employer relationships. The study argues that stronger structures, clearer shared understandings, and more systematic engagement between schools and providers are needed for the full potential of TY work experience to be realised.
Clerkin, A., & Jeffers, G. (2026). Learning from employers’ perspectives on transition year work experience. Irish Educational Studies, 1–31.
Published in: Wellbeing and Schooling. Transdisciplinary Perspectives in Educational Research
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This chapter describes two programmes, with significant similarities and differences, that have been available in Ireland since 1974 (Transition Year; TY) and South Korea since 2013 (Free Year Programme ; FYP ). TY takes place over one full year as an integrated part of mainstream secondary education. TY students engage in developmental activities, vocational work experience, and increased interaction with the adult world. These experiences are intended to facilitate enhanced maturity and broadened horizons, supporting young people in becoming fulfilled citizens. Although TY is well-established within Ireland, it is an unusual innovation internationally. However, 2013 saw the introduction of FYP , which was partially informed by TY. South Korean policy-makers recognised concern about student wellbeing and stress in a high-stakes academic environment , and challenges relating to students’ readiness for the working world. FYP is a response to those concerns. This chapter offers an overview and comparisons between the two programmes. We argue that both are founded on a eudaimonic view of wellbeing in education, aiming for more holistic and rounded student development. Significantly, both programmes emphasise community engagement and interpersonal development, alongside personal development and self-directed learning. The challenges and practices identified offer lessons for educators in Ireland, South Korea, and other jurisdictions.
Clerkin, A., Jeffers, G. & Choi, S.D. (2022). Wellbeing in personal development: Lessons from national school-based programmes in Ireland and South Korea. In: McLellan, R., Faucher, C. & Simovska, V. (eds) Wellbeing and Schooling. Transdisciplinary Perspectives in Educational Research. Vol. 4 (pp.155-172). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-95205-1_10
Published in: British Journal of Educational Psychology
Background: Transition Year (TY) is a quasi-gap year offered midway through post-primary education in Ireland. TY is intended to provide a low-stakes environment to promote maturity and social skills, and to prepare students for adult life. Previous interview-based research has found that TY is seen as a positive experience by many students and teachers. However, no study has sought to quantify the extent to which TY participation may be associated with socioemotional development.
Aims: To gather baseline data before TY and then examine differences in socioemotional outcomes over a 2-year period (three waves of data collection) between students who went on to take part in TY and those who did not.
Sample: A total of 1,563 Grade 9 students (47% female, mean age = 15.4 years) in 20 schools were randomly sampled to provide a nationally representative sample.
Methods: Outcome measures were selected to reflect (1) the intended aims of TY and (2) outcomes consistently identified through qualitative research as being associated with TY. These include student–teacher relations, self-reliance, subjective age, school satisfaction, and social self-efficacy. Latent growth curve models were used to examine differences in students’ development over time, controlling for initial (baseline) status and background covariates.
Results: TY participants reported significantly higher increases in subjective age and (for boys) self-reliance over three waves than non-participants. However, expected differences were not observed for other measures.
Conclusions: This is the first study to report longitudinal quantitative analyses of socioemotional outcomes in TY. The results highlight a tension between broadly positive qualitative reports of TY outcomes and the limited quantitative evidence, to date, of same. Some directions for future research are suggested.
Clerkin, A. (2020). A three-wave longitudinal assessment of socioemotional development in a year-long school-based ‘gap year’. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 90, 109-129. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12267
This report presents findings from a three-year, three-wave longitudinal study of students’ experiences and perceptions of Transition Year (TY) and associated socioemotional outcomes. Some aspects of the study have been reported elsewhere (Clerkin, 2016, 2018a, 2018c, 2019). The current report focuses especially on the student voice: what students know and think about TY while in Third Year, such as the parts of TY that would attract them and those that would deter; what they report from their experience as participants during TY; and how they view TY in retrospect from a more senior vantage point in Fifth Year and Sixth Year. A wide range of viewpoints is represented, including students who opted to take part in TY, students who took part in a compulsory TY, and students who chose to skip the programme entirely. The nature and extent of variation in students’ TY experience between schools is also considered.
Published in: NCCA Senior Cycle Review discussion paper
Abstract:
This summary gives a brief overview of what is known from previous research on Transition Year (TY), which draws strongly on the views of students and teachers. It includes the most commonly-reported benefits and problems that are associated with TY, as well as several important issues about which we still have relatively limited information.
The summary ends with some suggestions for aspects of TY provision that are worth reflecting on at a time when the Irish senior cycle, including TY, is under review. The senior cycle consultation provides an opportunity to critically examine and reappraise our assumptions about TY and the various ways in which it has been implemented in different schools and different contexts. In doing so, we can consider areas where students’ educational experience could be enhanced in a future senior cycle, and identify existing practices or ideas that should be maintained for future cohorts.
Clerkin, A. (2019). What do we know about Transition Year? Looking to the future. (Senior Cycle Review discussion paper). Dublin: Educational Research Centre and National Council for Curriculum and Assessment. https://www.ncca.ie/media/3758/scr-erc-ty-research.pdf
Published in: Review of Education
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Since the 1970s, schools in Ireland have offered an optional programme known as ‘Transition Year’ midway through secondary education, when students are typically 15 years old. It lasts one academic year and aims to promote maturity, social development and vocational exploration, and to give students a chance to develop personal and intellectual interests in the absence of high-stakes examination pressure. On returning to more conventional classes, participants are expected to be better prepared to study and better prepared for life beyond school. The evolution of Transition Year over nearly half a century has been driven primarily by committed teachers and particular policy decisions, but, despite increasing uptake, it has lacked a strong theoretical grounding. This has contributed to a measure of public ambivalence and vulnerability to political vicissitudes. This paper reviews the extant literature on Transition Year, situates Transition Year in the context of selected aspects of the psychological literature on socioemotional development, highlights avenues for future research and discusses its relevance to social and emotional learning in global education beyond Ireland.
Clerkin, A. (2018). Filling in the gaps: A theoretical grounding for an education programme for adolescent socioemotional and vocational development in Ireland. Review of Education, 6, 146-179. https://doi.org/10.1002/rev3.3112
The following guide accompanies this article: https://doi.org/10.1002/rev3.3113. It provides additional context and implications for policy and practice.
Published in: Educational Psychology
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This study identifies student characteristics that predict participation in Transition Year, an optional developmental year (Grade 10) offered midway through secondary education in Ireland. One thousand eighty five students (51% female; mean age = 15.4 years) completed a questionnaire in Grade 9, providing information on demographic, attitudinal and socio-emotional characteristics. Multivariate logistic regression was used to identify characteristics that predicted students’ choice to take part in Transition Year for the following school year or to skip it. The results point to a number of invisible barriers to participation, which indicate that some students, many of whom expressed some interest in Transition Year, could miss out on potentially positive elements of the extra developmental year. The findings raise issues for teachers and policy-makers regarding the promotion of programmes such as Transition Year and its targeting towards particular groups of students.
Clerkin, A. (2018). Who participates? Predicting student self-selection into a developmental year in secondary education. Educational Psychology, 38 (9), 1083-1105. https://doi.org/10.1080/01443410.2018.1504004
Published in: Irish Journal of Education
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This article describes the self-reported homework and study behaviours of almost 5500 students from Third Year to Sixth Year in a representative sample of 20 Irish schools. In particular, the studying habits of Fifth Year and Sixth Year students are examined with reference to their previous participation or non-participation in Transition Year, which is intended, in part, to help students to become more self-directed and effective learners. Students who took part in Transition Year are found to be more likely to engage in additional study and to persist with difficult questions in Fifth Year and Sixth Year. Overall, they report spending significantly more time on homework in the years leading up to the Leaving Certificate than their non-participating classmates, after controlling for home background and educational aspirations.
Clerkin, A. (2016). Homework and study behaviours before the Leaving Certificate among Transition Year participants and non-participants. Irish Journal of Education, 41, 5-23. https://www.erc.ie/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Clerkin-Final-Vol-41.pdf
Published in: Irish Educational Studies
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The Transition Year (TY) programme has seen large increases in the number of participating schools and students since the 1990s. However, existing documentation of this growth has been intermittent and sometimes inconsistent. This paper documents in detail the changes seen in school provision and student uptake for the 19 years from 1992/1993 to 2010/2011, drawing on data provided by the Department of Education and Skills. Issues considered include the mainstreaming of TY in 1994, cohort participation rates (proportions of junior cycle students progressing to TY), school type and student gender. Particular attention is given to provision and uptake of the programme with regard to students from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds. This is examined through the use of both school-level (school participation in schemes aimed at addressing socio-economic disadvantage) and student-level (possession of a medical card) information.
Clerkin, A. (2013). Growth of the ‘Transition Year’ programme, nationally and in schools serving disadvantaged students, 1992-2011. Irish Educational Studies, 32 (2), 197-215. https://doi.org/10.1080/03323315.2013.770663
Published in: Education Policy Analysis Archives
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Secondary education in Ireland includes an optional Transition Year (TY) between the junior and senior examination cycles, when students are typically about 15 years old. Transition Year is an innovative programme, unique to Irish education, which is intended as a non-academic year devoted to personal and social development in the absence of examination pressure. Slightly more than half of the eligible student cohort take part in the programme, with the remainder skipping TY and progressing directly to senior education. Qualitative evidence suggests that TY is generally viewed as a positive experience for students, although competing perspectives regard the programme as a luxury that is no longer worth sustaining. This article discusses the development of the programme and its relevance to the Irish education system, reviews previous and related research, and identifies future directions and areas where further attention is warranted.
Clerkin, A. (2012). Personal development in secondary education: The Irish Transition Year. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 20 (38). http://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/view/1061
