Leaving and Junior Cert students encouraged to 'mind themselves' as exams get under way 

Fifth year pupils Andrea Toye, Leah Hennessy, Zsofia Gztrenen, Gulmira Cetinkaya and Rouguie Barry with teacher Fiona Glynn getting the rooms ready for the start of the Leaving and Junior Cert examinations at the Ursuline College Blackrock, Cork. Picture: Dan Linehan

More than 136,000 Junior and Leaving Certificate students who will begin their State exams on Wednesday morning have been told to “look after” themselves over the coming weeks above all else.

The students will face into their first papers from 9.30am — English paper one for those at senior cycle and English for those doing junior cycle — at 817 venues across the country. 

This year again sees record numbers sitting the exams — up slightly on the 135,000 last year.

For Leaving Cert students, Thursday and Friday will see English paper two, geography and maths paper one, before the weekend provides a welcome respite. Junior Cert students, meanwhile will have Irish, geography, history, and maths taken care of by the end of Friday.

Ahead of the start of the exams, Education Minister Norma Foley said she was sending her “very best wishes” to all students.

“It’s the culmination of many, many years of hard work from all of you. I know those years have been challenging, they’ve been daunting and they’ve been demanding, but you have seen it through right to the very end,” she said.

For many Leaving Cert students, it will be their first time sitting a State exam, as the 2021 Junior Cert exams were cancelled on the back of covid restrictions. Picture Dan Linehan

“So today and over the coming days, give it your very, very best. Good luck to you all.”

For many Leaving Cert students, it will be their first time sitting a State exam, as the 2021 Junior Cert exams were cancelled on the back of covid restrictions.

Secondary teaching union the ASTI acknowledged that fact, with president Geraldine O’Brien urging those sitting the exams to keep things “simple and balanced” over the next three weeks.

“Your job now is to look after yourself over the coming weeks,” she said in her good luck message to students.

“A good routine with plenty of rest, some exercise, and time for organising yourself and for social connections, will help you get the most out of the preparation work you have been undertaking over the past number of months,” Ms O’Brien said.

The ASTI president noted stress was “normal” during an exam period, and acknowledged it is exacerbated in 2024 as so many will be sitting an exam for the first time.

'Be kind to yourself'

“Be kind to yourself and show up for yourself each day. You have already demonstrated incredible resilience in your life — including coming through a global pandemic and all of the disruption that came with it,” she said, adding students should “always remember that these are just exams”.

Her counterpart in fellow union the TUI David Waters likewise wished luck to all those taking exams. However, he sounded a warning his organisation’s members, as evidenced by a new survey, do not believe their schools have the appropriate facilities to fully facilitate some additional assessment components at Leaving Cert level.

Examination supervisor Kieran Moloney arriving with exam papers at the Ursuline College Blackrock, Cork. Picture: Dan Linehan

Separately, some two thirds of the TUI’s membership do not believe their school has the resources to provide new subjects such as drama, film and theatre and climate action and sustainable development — both of which are due for introduction in 2025, Mr Waters said.

There is some solace for the Leaving Cert class of 2024 in that this year’s exams will continue the trend seen in 2022 and 2023 of exam results being adjusted to provide normalisation in terms of the grades achieved by both pandemic-era and post-covid students.

June 25 (June 17 for the Junior Cert contingent) marks the last day of exams, though for the majority things will have finished up several days before that — as the last couple days of the Leaving Cert are dominated by more niche subjects.

This year’s Leaving Cert results are due to be delivered on Friday, August 23 (there is no set date for this year’s Junior Cert results).

Then, the first round of college offers will generally emerge the following week.

The class of 2024, meanwhile, will be the penultimate to have their efforts graded in the current format — a move to 40% of marks being delivered via continuous assessment is pencilled in for September 2025.

That is, if the change actually comes to pass — the teaching unions have been less than enthusiastic regarding one of Education Minister Norma Foley’s key policy goals.