More than 20,000 Leaving Cert students converged on Dublin's RDS last week to attend the annual Higher Options conference, organised by The Irish Times and the Institute of Guidance Counsellors.

Nearly 200 exhibitors, displaying information about everything from agricultural college to the Defence Forces, had stalls at the conference. Institutions came to the RDS from all over Ireland, from England, Scotland and Wales and from further afield in Europe. There were also lecture sessions about the college-entry process and talks about various careers.

This was the 15th year of the Higher Options conference. Education minister Michael Woods visited on Friday.