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Publication of redeveloped Primary School Curriculum

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Modern Foreign Languages (MFL)

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French, German, Italian, Spanish

A common approach was adopted in developing the specification for Junior Cycle Modern Foreign Languages ( JCMFL
Junior Cycle Modern Foreign Languages ) across the four curricular languages French, German, Italian and Spanish. 

UPDATE

A revised specification for Junior Cycle Modern Foreign Languages (NCCA, 2025) will be introduced for first year students in September 2026.

The current JC
Junior Cycle MFL
Modern Foreign Languages curriculum specification (NCCA, 2017) will be phased out with the student cohort 2025 - 2028 (students in third year in 2028). For more information on the curriculum development process for the revised specification, please click here. 

The specification for Junior Cycle Modern Foreign Languages is designed for a minimum of 200 hours of timetabled student engagement and aims to develop communicative language proficiency broadly aligned with the A band (A1 to A2, basic user) of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, teaching, assessment ( CEFR
The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment was published by the Council of Europe in 2001. This framework of reference provides tools, guidelines, and resources to support the teaching, learning and assessment of languages. ) and its descriptors. 

Modern languages short courses in junior cycle: 
In addition to the Junior Cycle Modern Foreign Languages specification for French, German, Italian and Spanish, the following short courses are available to students in junior cycle:
A short course in Chinese Language and Culture, developed by the NCCA  is available here.
Short courses in Polish, Russian, Japanese and Lithuanian, developed by PPLI, are available here.