Richard Hogan: This is why this year's Leaving Cert students are getting a raw deal

Now, the class of 2025 are being told, “a soft landing” is coming. Haven’t this cohort of students experienced enough? These are the kids that missed out on so much because of the pandemic

Richard Hogan: "Normative events of childhood maturation and development were denied to this class, and now we are going to correct the insanity of inflated grades by hitting them with some sort of exam tariff?" Picture: Moya Nolan.

I’m sitting in one of those awful plastic, duck egg blue chairs that damages your posture for life. The chair needs a good dollop of W40; it’s squeaking with every breath.

The hall is quiet, well, except for my chair and heavy breathing. I can smell ink. The clock is ticking away like a bomb.