Entries for the Leaving Cert
62,235 (including 4,614 external candidates; 3,889 repeats and 2,821 Leaving Cert Applied students). There is usually a drop between the number of entries and the number of students who actually sit the exams. Last year, there were 64,761 entries and 62,844 candidates sat the exam.
A historical look back at numbers sitting the Leaving Cert
1926: 672
1935: 2,165
1955: 6,098
1966: 12,573
1975: 29,206
1985: 47,736
1995: 66,304
Rechecks last year
Higher level: 6,922 rechecks were requested and there were 1,267 upgrades. Ordinary level: 668 rechecks were requested and there were 146 upgrades. Rechecks cost £25 per subject, refunded if the student is upgraded.
Results last year
60,577 candidates sat at least five subjects. 56,025 received a minimum of five D3s at any level. At the other end of the scale, 2,658 candidates received a minimum of six grade C3s on higher-level papers, of which a minimum of three were at grade A2 or higher.
Repeats
The number of students repeating the Leaving Cert continues to decline. This year, there are 3,889 entries from repeat students compared to 5,013 last year and 5,226 in 1998.
Logistics
More than 800,000 components (written papers, oral, aural and practical work) will be examined in the Leaving Certificate leading to the award of 435,000 grades in 31 different subjects. More than 2,000 superintendents will supervise exams in June and 2,800 examiners will be employed. The cost of running the exams is about £20 million and about £4.9 million will be collected in fees.
Entries by subject
The most popular subjects:
Maths: 60,112
English: 58,984
Irish: 56,045
French: 36,941
Geography: 31,135
The minority sports:
Japanese: 5
Hebrew studies: 6
Greek: 18
Home economics (general): 166
Latin: 167
Arabic: 178
Entries for the Junior Cert
62,746
Results
Leaving Cert results will be in the schools on Wednesday, August 16th, 2000. Results of rechecks will be in schools in early October. Junior Cert results will be in the schools in mid-September.
