LEAVING CERT: Seven A1s but Brian feels chained to his degree

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. 

He should have been set up for life, but he says that teenagers are forced to make decisions with lifelong consequences, leaving some crumbling under the pressure.

IN the past, education and job-seeking were not necessarily connected. To work in academia, of course, you would have to pursue education to the highest level possible. However, for competence in most jobs, a university degree is not required, and so there would have been no need to go further than second level.