The hybrid approach - giving sixth years a choice of calculated grades - isn't expected to be adopted.
Instead, the cabinet is considering proposals which will see students offered a greater choice of questions.
Minister Eamon Ryan says the lack of Junior Cert data for many students has given the government little option:
"I think looking at other data, you're going to come at school performance and I think if we looked at that the political system looked at that previously and thought that wouldn't be fair, you know, you'd be judging students on what school they went to, and rather than their own historic results and and I think that that wouldn't have been fair."
Sinn Féin's Education Spokesman and Cork TD Donnchadh O'Laoghaire says just adding extra questions to the exams is not enough:
"So it's not going to be the case that expanded choice is going to compensate every student equally. And many students are still going to be struggling to cover the course. So while it's better than what was previously on the table, I don't believe it's adequate and I think a lot of students will still be significantly struggling to cover the quarter."
