Stage One of the Senior Cycle subject redevelopment includes revisions to three science courses: biology, chemistry, and physics.

The updated requirements include a new assessment component worth 40% as well as a traditional written evaluation totalling 60%.

According to the Department of Education, the Senior Cycle will employ a wider variety of assessments thanks to the new assessment component.

The State Examinations Commission will conduct an external evaluation of each student's supplementary assessment component. Schools will soon receive the funds, according to Minister Foley.

Additional financing will be provided to all schools participating in the free program, with a base payment of at least €13,000 and a maximum of €22,000.

The payment will be done automatically, and there won't be an application process. Beginning in August or September 2025, schools across the country will begin using the updated requirements for fifth-year pupils in biology, chemistry, and physics.

The Department stated that in order to ensure that financing is equitable and proportionate, the Science Implementation Support Grant funds will be distributed according to four bands of enrolment. Schools with as few as 300 students in the lowest band and as many as 900 students in the highest band make up the enrolment bands.

In addition to the minimum financing for their enrolment band, DEIS schools will receive an extra 10%. The extra funds will be used however each school sees fit, giving them the freedom to do so.

According to a Department statement, "schools are expected to prioritise the purchase of consumables and related equipment needs."

"The funding may be used to support the implementation of the new senior cycle sciences or more generally to support the broader science programme which may include, for example, Agricultural Science, Transition Year Science or Junior Cycle Science".

The €30 million set aside in Budget 2025 for curriculum improvements, including the renovation of the senior cycle, was supplemented by this €12 million financing, it was stated. The financing, stated to the Teachers' Union of Ireland, "does not go far enough to address the deficits in equipment and consumables" in Irish schools.

A "more fundamental issue" was the availability of teachers, it stated.

"Regrettably, the Department seems intent on 'riding out' the crisis until student numbers fall," it continued. The announcement, especially the 10% funding increase for DEIS schools, was warmly received by the Irish Second-Level Students' Union.