4,400 external candidates to sit Leaving Cert

A RECORD number of people not in school have applied to sit Leaving Certificate exams in June.

The State Examinations Commission received more than 4,400 applications from external candidates for this year’s exams up to the deadline at the end of January and expects the figure to increase in the coming months as late applicants get in contact.

The number of external candidates last year was just over 4,100, the largest entry for a decade in this category. These include people who have returned to education, some repeat Leaving Certificate students, and people applying to sit a small number of subjects.