The exams begin - Best of luck to all of you

OVER 55,000 young Irish people will begin a rite of passage today when they begin their Leaving Certificate exams.

For some their results will define the next stage of their education. For many others it will mark the beginning of the end of their time in formal education.

For ambitious students – and their parents – it can be a time of stress. Others whose focus is outside third level education may find the process less taxing because, even though they realise that exams are important, they also know that they are not life defining.

Every student must be helped to realise their potential but equally every student should be secure in the knowledge that although the exams are very important, they are just only one of life’s challenges.

Best of luck to the 55,783 sitting the Leaving Certificate, the 3,418 sitting the Applied Leaving and best of luck the 57,133 sitting the Junior Cert.