LCA Social Education 2026/27: what SPHE has replaced, and what it hasn't

If you have LCA classes next year, you have probably already met the contradiction. The Social Education module descriptor says parts of the course have been replaced by Senior Cycle SPHE. An exam paper still appeared this year, and Contemporary Issues was still on it. Both are correct. The change applies cohort by cohort rather than all at once.

What actually changed

Under Circular 0012/2025, the Senior Cycle SPHE specification replaces two of the six Social Education modules: Module 1 (Social and Health Education 1) and Module 4 (Social and Health Education 2). The change took effect for students entering 5th year, or Year 1 of LCA, in the 2025/26 academic year.

For that cohort, assessment in SPHE is entirely through the satisfactory completion of Key Assignments. The final written examination of Social Education is discontinued for them.

Replaced by SPHE

• Module 1, Social and Health Education 1
• Module 4, Social and Health Education 2
• The final written examination, discontinued for the new cohort, with credit now earned through Key Assignments

Continues as before

• The other four Social Education modules, until reviewed and updated
• Contemporary Issues, which is not replaced by SPHE
• The Contemporary Issues Task, with its credit allocation increased from 10 to 14

Source: Circular 0012/2025 and the revised Social Education Module Descriptor (NCCA, updated 2024).

Why there was still an exam paper

Students who entered LCA before September 2025 complete the programme under the previous arrangement, including the written examination. Students who entered from September 2025 follow the revised arrangement. Until the earlier cohort finishes, the two arrangements run in parallel. That is where the confusion comes from.

Who sits what in 2026/27

What this means in practice

SPHE and Social Education are now credited separately. SPHE runs as a year-long module evidenced through Key Assignments, while the remaining Social Education modules and the Contemporary Issues Task carry their own credits. In many schools the two strands are timetabled separately and taught by different teachers. How to split the hours is a decision for the school. The circular sets out what must be covered and credited, not how it is timetabled.

The coordination problem this creates: a student's evidence is now split across two subjects, two credit streams and, in most schools, two members of staff. Someone still has to hold the full picture for every LCA student and reconcile it when credits are returned.

The short version for the staffroom

SPHE replaces Social and Health Education 1 and 2 only. Contemporary Issues, the Contemporary Issues Task and the other modules continue. The new cohort sits no Social Education exam and earns SPHE credit through Key Assignments. The pre-2025 cohort finishes under the old rules. Credits for SPHE and Social Education are awarded separately.

Holding the full picture in one place

Skilly gives LCA students a structured place to record their reflective work as they go, so Key Assignments are evidenced at the time rather than reconstructed later, and the coordinator can see the trail for every student across both strands and every teacher involved. The LCA Social Education pack covers the four modules that continue. The Senior Cycle SPHE pack covers what has replaced Modules 1 and 4.

You can walk through a working post-primary school in the interactive demo, or get in touch and we will set it up against your own LCA cohorts.

Sources: Department of Education Circular 0012/2025; revised Social Education Module Descriptor (NCCA, updated 2024); Curriculum Online, Senior Cycle LCA. This article summarises the position as of August 2026. Always check the current circulars for your cohort.