Schools and training centres are doing well in preparing students for the Leaving Certificate Applied (LCA) — but some may be helping candidates too much with their tasks and projects.

Fáilte Ireland claims Eirgrid’s controversial plans to upgrade the electricity network between Munster and Leinster have ignored internationally-used guidelines for the selection of routes of high voltage power lines.

A record one-in-four Leaving Certificate maths students took higher level exams this year, as the impact of bonus points for college entry rises.

Cutbacks in staff may have caused a significant drop in numbers taking up the Leaving Certificate Applied this year, teachers say.

The standard and numbers of students taking the Leaving Certificate Applied (LCA) have increased this year, according to figures from the State Examinations Commission.

The state exams begin this morning with a drop in numbers for the Leaving Certificate but a 10-year high of almost 60,000 Junior Certificate students.

THE number and performance of students taking a Leaving Certificate course specifically aimed at those at risk of dropping out of the education system have hit their lowest point for years and come as a direct result of funding and staffing cuts, teachers have claimed.

THE numbers due to sit Leaving Certificate exams in non-curricular EU languages is up by more than a quarter this year to 1,323.

HUNDREDS of teenagers could be missing out on the chance of a higher education each year because they are not told the Leaving Certificate Applied (LCA) programme they take restricts their access to college.

LEAVING Certificate Applied (LCA) students on Cork’s northside were pleased with their exams so far after yesterday afternoon’s German paper.

MORE than 9,000 students leave school before the Leaving Certificate every year, a study has shown.

THE Ballincollig Youthreach centre has more people trying to get in than are already learning for the first time in director Eric McNally’s six years of working there.

ANOTHER rise in the overall number of applications could see increased competition for school leavers seeking entry to college in the autumn.

PRINCIPALS have warned that cutbacks are creating major problems organising timetables and subject choices for students as they prepare to open hundreds of second-level schools in the coming days.

CHANGES should be made to the Leaving Certificate to allow more students, who are not interested in the points race, to reach their potential, teachers and business leaders said last night.

Niall Murray Education Correspondent

EMER McGRATH was jumping for joy yesterday after being hailed as the country’s top student with eight A1s and one A2 — but for thousands of teenagers the future was not so bright.