A teenage boy who was hospitalised for four months at a cost of up to €120,000 to the State because of delays in the allocation of a wheelchair has defied the odds and is to start his Junior Certificate exams from home tomorrow. (Wed)

The Junior Certificates results being received by more than 62,500 students around the country today are largely in line with those of last year.

This year’s Leaving Certificate students can, for the first time, get a copy of their written Leaving Certificate answers or recording of their oral tests.

The opinions of 2,000 second-level students are to be gathered in schools over the next few months to inform a major review of the two-year senior cycle that leads to the Leaving Certificate.

Almost 8,000 Leaving Certificate agricultural science students took yesterday morning’s papers, which Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) subject spokesman Peter Keaney thought were very manageable.

Some Leaving Cert students had already started their summer holidays as others were facing into today's Agricultural Economics exam

Monday morning brought the fourth day of exams with Maths Paper 2 on the agenda for Leaving Cert students.

The first maths exams, dreaded by so many students each year, brought the first week of the 2016 State exams to a close.

The first of two higher level Irish papers offered some 31,200 Junior Cert students, what Robbie Cronin considered quite a good choice of essays.

Emily Dickinson, TS Eliot, Elizabeth Bishop, and Paul Durcan were the poets examined in a higher-level Leaving Certificate English paper lasting over three hours.

By the time the 2016 State examinations started yesterday morning, outside temperatures had already reached 20C in some parts of the country.

For over 60,000 students, Junior Certificate English was first on the cards at schools around the country yesterday.

Tens of thousands of Leaving and Junior Certificates completed relatively straightforward German exams yesterday - experts say the papers contained “no massive surprises” and would have suited the majority of students.

Margo McGann, of the ASTI, said the higher level Leaving Cert business exam was fair but really tested knowledge, so only the most dedicated and focused students would have earned top grades.

Junior Certificate science papers contained many issues relevant to teenagers and the modern world, but were also a real test for even the strongest students.

Leaving Certificate French exams were on the morning timetable for students yesterday and featured many topical issues.

The absence of a question about the Berlin blockade was something that may have upset many Junior Certificate students who took yesterday afternoon’s higher level paper.

The 15-year-old Killarney Junior Cert student and her family who have been forced to stay in their family car in recent weeks have been offered accommodation in a guesthouse for four nights.

Leaving Certificate students completed their Irish exams with well-received second papers in the subject yesterday morning.

Business studies was the only Junior Certificate subject examined yesterday, but higher level students had two papers to complete.

Following a tough ordinary level maths paper on Friday for most Leaving Certificate students, reaction seemed much more positive to yesterday morning’s paper 2.

A 15-year-old Killarney student has no place to live and yesterday went in to her Junior Cert geography exam knowing her family, including her nine-year-old brother and 20-month-old baby sister, had no more money for food.

The minimum half hour that students must stay in State exams may be too short, says a principal who has asked parents of Junior Certificate candidates to urge them not to leave early.

A water tank featured on both the higher and ordinary level Junior Certificate maths exam.

The highest number of students on record was entered for higher level maths and the first of two papers was considered fair.

Junior Certificate students had their first maths papers and Olympic champion boxer Katie Taylor was the inspiration for a question at higher level.

Junior Certificate students were tested on their Irish skills yesterday, with higher level candidates having two papers to sit, but others just having one in the morning.

Students who focused on John Montague and Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin should have been pleased to see both feature on yesterday’s Leaving Certificate higher and ordinary level English exams.

A Limerick student had a dramatic start to his Leaving Cert exams yesterday after he missed his morning bus into the city.

Stargazing and astronomy featured in the opening exam for 45,000 Junior Certificate students taking higher level English yesterday.

English and Home Economics for openers as record entry seen for higher level Leaving Certificate maths

Students have been advised to keep things in perspective, get plenty of rest, and eat well during the State exams.

A former straight-A Leaving Certificate student claims the education system brainwashes students into believing the exam is “the be all and end all”.

Brian O’Flynn was a straight A student who was awarded a scholarship by the Irish Government to attend the University of Edinburgh but today he reveals why he believes the Leaving Certificate system is stacked against students realising their full potential. 

For the last few days, Leaving Cert students across the country have been frantically trying to cram as much knowledge into their heads as time runs out and they begin to wonder what the hell they were doing all year.

The 34,000 students of Junior Certificate French had their written and listening tests at schools around the country yesterday morning.

Junior Certificate maths exams concluded yesterday morning and higher level students needed to be skilled at diagrams to do well.

The Child and Family Agency, Tusla, has said 11 students in different residential care settings are sitting the state examinations this month.

The first maths papers for Junior Certificate students were taken yesterday evening and around 32,000 were taking the higher level exam.