The Children's Rights Alliance says holding a traditional written exam for this year's Leaving Cert will further increase stress and anxiety levels among students.
The advocacy group says yesterday's announcement not to retain a hybrid model was a missed opportunity for meaningful reform of the State exam.
The Irish Second Level Students Union had demanded the hybrid model be kept for this years Leaving and Junior Cert exams, however teaching unions such as the TUI and the ASTI said it should be dropped.
The Department said it couldn't come up with a model for predictive grades given one in four Leaving Cert students this year didn't do a Junior Cert.
Tanya Ward of the Childrens' Rights Alliance says she's concerned about the impact of the government's decision.
"I'm in my job ten years - every time I'm in a delegation where we work with young people and we discuss with young people what the big issues of the day facing them are, the Leaving Cert comes up nearly as the top issue.
"Coming up with the hybrid system meant that for young people it did reduce the stress they experienced.
"I think the big challenge will be that they will be very stressed and very worried about what will be facing them in the summer."
