The final plans for this year's Leaving Cert are expected to be agreed this afternoon.

The cabinet sub-committee on education is due to be updated by Education Minister Norma Foley on the process, in order to give clarity to the 60,000 or so students due to sit the exams.

Talks with unions were continuing late last night in a bid to reach an agreement that could be put before the cabinet sub-committee on education this afternoon.

It's expected an incorporeal, or over the phone, meeting of the full cabinet would then give sign off.

The favoured model is one that has an element of written exams along with some predictive grades.

However, it's yet to be confirmed what choice individual students will have between the two for their own exams.

It comes as the Teachers Union of Ireland has called for the cancellation of the Junior Cert.

It said based on public health advice it won't be possible to run the junior and leaving cert at the same time, and so the exam should be replaced with an appropriate alternative.