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Subjects · Leaving Cert Politics & Society

Leaving Cert Politics & Society: Equality in education

How often Equality in education comes up on the Politics & Society papers, every year it was asked, and questions to try.

HL Asked on 6 of the last 7 Higher Level papers, most recently in 2025. most years

OL Asked on 6 of the last 7 Ordinary Level papers, most recently in 2025. most years

Equality in education, Higher Level(7 marks)

Quick ones on Equality in education.

(a)What did Paulo Freire call education in which teachers deposit facts into passive students?
  1. Problem-posing education
  2. Banking education
  3. Liberating education
(b)What is Freire's 'conscientização' (critical consciousness)?
  1. Obeying teachers and authority figures without question
  2. Memorising the curriculum accurately for exams
  3. Learners see and act on the causes of oppression
(c)What does Martha Nussbaum's capabilities approach judge a society by?
  1. What people are actually able to do and be
  2. How many rights are written into law
  3. Average income per person
Show the answers

(a) Banking education

(b) Learners see and act on the causes of oppression

(c) What people are actually able to do and be

Your turn: Higher Level questions on Equality in education.

Higher Level

Asked on 6 of the last 7 Higher Level papers, most recently in 2025. most years

Every paper, year by year

YearWhere it came up
2025Q1e, Q1o, Q6
2024Not asked
2023Q4b
2022Q1c
2021Q1i
2019Q1j
2018Q1e, Q4b

Links open the State Examinations Commission’s paper for that year.

More Equality in education questions

Equality in education, 2 marks

Which of these is on Nussbaum's list of ten central capabilities?

  1. Personal wealth
  2. Obedience to authority
  3. Practical reason
Show the answer

Practical reason

Her list includes life, health, bodily integrity, senses and thought, emotions, practical reason, affiliation, other species, play and control over one's environment.

Equality in education, 3 marks

Why does Nussbaum see education as especially important among the capabilities?

  1. It is the only capability that matters
  2. It unlocks many other capabilities
  3. It raises GDP fastest
Show the answer

It unlocks many other capabilities

Literacy and learning let people get work, take part in politics and make informed choices, so education supports other capabilities, especially for women and girls.

Equality in education, 2 marks

What is the 'hidden curriculum'?

  1. Values and norms taught informally by school life
  2. Topics removed from the official syllabus
  3. Exam questions kept secret until the day of the exam
Show the answer

Values and norms taught informally by school life

Through routines, rules and expectations, schools teach lessons about obedience, gender and class that are never written down. Relevant to Freire and Lynch.

Ordinary Level

Asked on 6 of the last 7 Ordinary Level papers, most recently in 2025. most years

Every paper, year by year

YearWhere it came up
2025Q1p, Q10
2024Q1e
2023Not asked
2022Q1j
2021Q2, Q10
2019Q8
2018Q1r

Links open the State Examinations Commission’s paper for that year.

More Equality in education questions

Equality in education, 2 marks

Paulo Freire criticised 'banking' education. What did he mean by it?

  1. Schools owned and run by banks to make a profit
  2. Students saving money in a bank for college
  3. Teachers depositing facts into passive students
Show the answer

Teachers depositing facts into passive students

In Pedagogy of the Oppressed Freire argued for problem-posing education, where teachers and students discuss real issues and learners come to question injustice.

Equality in education, 2 marks

What is the aim of DEIS in Irish education?

  1. To fund private fee-paying schools in wealthy areas
  2. To give extra support to schools in disadvantaged areas
  3. To run the state exams and publish the results each year
Show the answer

To give extra support to schools in disadvantaged areas

DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) gives extra teachers, funding and programmes to schools serving disadvantaged communities, to tackle educational inequality.

Equality in education, 3 marks

Martha Nussbaum's 'capabilities approach' judges a society by what?

  1. What people are actually able to do and be
  2. The size of its economy and national income
  3. The number of laws it passes each year
Show the answer

What people are actually able to do and be

Nussbaum lists central capabilities such as life, health, education and affiliation. Formal rights mean little if people cannot actually use them.

Other Politics & Society topics

All of Leaving Cert Politics & Society