Most children left school at 14 without any formal qualifications. There was a form of 11 plus called a 'scholarship' which was offered to some pupils at around 11-12 years of age. Those who were successful went to a grammar school and took what was called a School Certificate, which comprised of English, maths, science etc, and a language. If you failed in one subject- you failed the Certificate.
The so-called 'School Leaving Certificate' was on
offer in some schools, but not all, by any means.
Such was the quality of education in those days,
it was only necessary to ask what 'Standard' had
been achieved. As a rule of thumb, Standard 6
equated to about 5 good 'O' levels at a later date.