Leaving results on the way

THE final preparations are being made today to issue Leaving Certificate results to about 54,000 nervous candidates.

The country’s 740 second-level schools will open their doors early tomorrow morning to give the results to students.

For those overseas or wishing to find their results in private, the State Examinations Commission (SEC) is again offering online and telephone facilities to do so. However, the internet and phone results will not be accessible until midday.

The numbers awaiting results include more than 3,000 students who took the Leaving Certificate Applied Programme last June. The overall numbers also include more than 3,500 non-school candidates and about 1,900 who took the Leaving Certificate for the second time this year.

For the 65,401 people who have applied for college places through the Central Applications Office (CAO), the big wait continues until next Monday, August 20.

The CAO will begin processing the results of those candidates applying based on Leaving Certificate results tomorrow, and offers of places will be made early next week. While official notification of offers will arrive at applicants’ addresses by post on Tuesday, they can be checked — and accepted — online at www.cao.ie from 6am on Monday.

Rose Tully, co-ordinator of the National Parents Council-Post Primary helpline, advised students and parents not to despair if results are not as expected.

“The best thing to do is wait until next week, because points can drop as well as fall for any given course. It really depends on the numbers applying for each particular course,” she said.

The helpline will be open at 1800 265 165 from 8am to 10pm tomorrow, until 8pm on Thursday, until 4pm on Friday, and again from Monday to Thursday next week. The service is staffed by Institute of Guidance Counsellors members, and it handled about 3,000 queries last year.