The moment of truth arrives this morning for the 70,411 candidates entered with the State Examinations Commission (SEC) to sit the Leaving Cert this year. As they nervously log on to their account on the State Examinations portal, they can reflect on the most extraordinary second-level journey to this point.
Most of them entered second level at the beginning of September 2020, in the middle of the Covid pandemic. They had missed the final four months of their primary school life, alongside their Confirmation ceremony, a rite of passage marking their transition to second level.
During the 2020-2021 academic year, Covid-19 cast a huge shadow over their first year school life, with minimal movement around their campus and highly restricted nonacademic activities.
In June 2023 they sat junior cycle exams. In June this year, they completed their written Leaving Cert exams, which were corrected in the traditional manner as they have been since 2022.
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The State Exams Commission has taken those results and applied several enhancement formulae to them to reach a profile of overall results on average 4.5 per cent ahead of those achieved by the class of 2019 pre-Covid. This contrasts with the 7 per cent enhancement process applied to the results in recent years.
These are the results that the class of 2026 will be reflecting on this morning.
When they get the opportunity in the coming days to examine their corrected scripts online, they will see that the enhancement process has awarded them one grade higher than the correcting teacher had originally awarded them on several of their papers.
This enhancement cannot occur where the correcting teacher had already awarded them a H1 on a higher-level paper or an O1 on the ordinary level one. This is the reason why the level of enhancement over the 2022-2025 period varies from 12 per cent at the lower levels of performance to less than 5 per cent at the top end and why the overall percentage of grades enhanced in 2023 was 70 per cent – and, in 2024, 68 per cent. In 2025, it was 52.4 per cent, and in the current year, it was 35.5 per cent.
The percentage of grades enhanced this year is lower than those awarded in 2022-2025 because the Minister for Education has mandated that the enhancement average will drop from 5.9 per cent to 4.5 in the results released this morning. The plan is that this process will continue in 2027, with no enhancement after that date.
If you are sitting looking at those results and have questions relating to their accuracy, or the fairness of the marking on any subject, there are detailed instructions on the process laid out in the guidelines provided to every student by the SEC through the online portal. Elsewhere in this supplement are detailed instructions relating to reviews of scripts, appeals and so on.
Your school principal will be able to assist you if you receive a manifestly incorrect result, a grade at the incorrect level, a grade missing for a subject you sat the examination in, or where you are awarded a grade for a subject you did not sit. Such errors are rare and are easily corrected when brought to the attention of the SEC.
Anticipating a CAO offer next Wednesday?
If you are among the 55,357 Leaving Cert 2026 students who have sought a CAO college place, you may immediately jump to conclusions relating to your chances of securing an offer next Wednesday. Nobody yet knows what CAO points will be required for any course until the data released this morning is processed through the CAO computer system over the coming days.
There are many variables at play in determining who secures the final place on offer in each course. The overall number of applicants is at an all-time high of 95,710 up 6,402 from 89,308 in 2025. There are 1,153 Level 8 programmes, but those at Level 6/7 are 361.
Additional third-level funded places
Minister for Further and Higher Education James Lawless, along with other relevant cabinet members, has recently secured Government approval for the first phase of a significant expansion of higher education capacity in Health and Social Care Professions (HSCPs), supporting the delivery of vital health, disability, education and community services across the country.
The approved package forms a first phase activation of the 2026 Higher Education Capacity Building Process and has been developed by the Higher Education Authority on behalf of the Department of Further and Higher Education, the Department of Health, the Department of Children, Disability and Equality, and the Department of Education and Youth.
The Phase 1 package will provide about 274 additional annual student places at full rollout, including 76 additional entrants from the 2026-2027 academic year, across 12 priority health and social care professions.
The expansion will increase the domestic supply of highly skilled professionals in areas where workforce shortages have been identified, including occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, clinical and counselling psychology, dietetics, audiology, radiography, podiatry, social work, social care and medical science. These professions play a critical role in disability services, primary and community care, schools, and broader health services.
The approval builds on government investment in healthcare education from 2022, through which more than 1,100 additional annual healthcare training places have already been approved or committed. The new Phase 1 measures will help support national priorities including the expansion of disability services, community-based care and educational supports.
Finding somewhere to live while attending university?
Many of those receiving Leaving Cert results this morning may have already secured accommodation in a specific university campus or privately nearby and are now wondering whether they need to change those arrangements.
No two situations are ever the same, but if you are certain now based on your Leaving Cert results that you won’t be attending a university you have already made accommodation arrangements for, the sooner you act to secure a refund of any deposit paid the better.
Susi grants
Some students receiving their results today may not yet have applied for grant support through Susi (Student Universal Support Ireland). Susi advises:
- If you are attending a PLC or higher-education course, you may be eligible for funding from Susi. Applications can still be made online. You can find out more about the eligibility criteria and complete a quick and simple eligibility indicator on susi.ie.
- If you applied to Susi for student funding and will, next Wednesday, be accepting a different course to the one on your application, you must inform Susi. If you accept your course through the CAO and consented to your information being shared with Susi, the CAO will confirm your new course with Susi. If not, you can simply log in to your Susi student portal and update the course details through the My Courses section. As grants can only be awarded in respect of an approved course, Susi will then review your application based on the updated course details.
- Finally, if you applied to Susi and decide not to attend your course or defer your place, you must cancel your grant application. You can do this through the My Requests section of your Susi student portal.
Applied for a PLC course?
If you are holding a further education, Post-Leaving Cert (PLC) course and are now clear that you will not be taking it up, as you have secured Leaving Cert results that secures you a place in a CAO programme of your choice, have the good grace to communicate this to the college in question by email or by phone so that the place can be offered to other prospective students who may wish to now apply for such a programme.
All PLC places are applied for online on the individual college’s own website.
Postscript
Whatever Leaving Cert results you have just received are a mark of your resilience over six uniquely challenging years. Celebrate it with family and friends. But do so respectfully to yourself and to others.
After today’s celebrations it’s time to move on from second level to the next phase of your life.
Enjoy.
