Nervous wait for course points

Students must wait until Monday to find out if their results today are enough to get them into one of the college courses for which they have applied.

The CAO has received course lists from 43,968 people who undertook the Leaving Certificate in June, down from 44,769 last year. They are among 76,073 CAO applicants, which is about 160 fewer than the total numbers seeking college entry in 2011.

These slight drops are being offered as consolation to students worried about the implications of 25 bonus points boosting the scores of students with higher-level maths grades.