The Irish Times: Anna sat the Leaving Certificate in the summer of 2017 and secured a place in Trinity. She got 580 points, was pleased with her results, yet her next words nailed the problem: “If I was to sit it today, I wouldn’t get 200 points.”

Four months on, she had forgotten what she had memorised. Her typical school day was to passively listen, take notes, learn by rote and regurgitate at exam time. Where teachers malfunctioned, she got grinds. Her mother told me earlier that year she worried about the endless hours studying in her bedroom and having to be coaxed out to say hello and eat. Read article