Q: My daughter is very depressed returning to school. She had wanted to do Transition Year; most of her friends were accepted, but she was not. Have I any rights to push the matter with the school? She is really disappointed. - Dublin mother.

A: This is really quite a problem where schools have found themselves, for whatever reason, unable to accommodate all the pupils who wished to do Transition. I have come across quite a number of cases of disappointment and it is indeed very upsetting when a girl's friends are accommodated and she is not.

Some schools do assessments on pupils, others interview them and base the decision on that; whichever way it is done, it has the potential to make the pupil feel rejected. The school may indeed have made the best decision for your daughter.

I would suggest that you ask for a chat with the principal and seek an explanation of their selection procedures and why your daughter was not accepted. All schools have been given the choice to provide a Transition Year programme, but there is no actual ruling which states that students must have access to the year which does represent a loophole.

Some schools decided to provide only one Transition Year class as, being a new programme, they felt they needed time to develop it before making it available to all pupils. Others found they simply did not have the space to provide it for all pupils - though the Minister for Education did say she would help any school which could not provide a Transition Year option for space reasons: one assumes she had pre fabs in mind.

What this means is that your rights are not at all clear. but at the very least the school owes you an explanation. It may be that the brighter, harder working students were chosen to go ahead to the Leaving Certificate as being in less need of the maturing effects of a Transition Yea, for example; or it may be that those who seemed most committed to the year and its ideals were picked.

Your parent's association may take up the issue with the school if there are other parents who are concerned.

Q: After many years working in the UK my husband has the opportunity of a job back in Ireland. One of my worries is would our children be at a disadvantage in relation to Irish in the education system? - Irish couple in Britain.

A: I don't think it should be a problem. Children who have received their primary education outside of Ireland up to age 11 are excused from compulsory Irish and also from the Irish language requirement for entry to NUI colleges such as UCD and UCC.

If your children are coming near to the Leaving Cert, there is also a ruling which states that students who have been resident outside of Ireland in the three years preceding the examination will also be excused from Irish.

With considerable numbers of Irish couples returning from abroad in recent years. it is not unusual for primary schools to have children who are just starting with Irish in later classes and most seem to cope very well. If you think about it. It's not all that different to taking up French or German at the same age.

Q: We were amazed to discover that our daughter will return to school and start her Leaving Cert subjects without having got her Junior cert results. How can anyone take the results seriously in these circumstances? - Cork parents.

A: It is surprising. The Junior Cert results will be out next week on September 10th. Strangely enough, this is a considerable improvement on the situation which occurred up to last year. It is not long since students had to wait until October to get the results, so having them the week after returning to school is regarded as a huge advance.

I suppose the problem is not quite as acute as it used to be; with so many students now doing Transition Year, they do not make their Leaving Cert subject choices until the following year. but you are right, for students going straight into the Leaving Cert cycle, it would certainly be preferable if they knew how they performed in the Junior Cert before being irrevocably locked into Leaving Cert subject choices.

But the reality is that Leaving Cert subject choices are made even before students sit the Junior Cert at all, as this usually happens around Easter. Schools need to do it at this stage, otherwise they would be unable to get their time tabling completed in time. But most reasonable schools would allow a little flexibility for pupils to change should their Junior Cert results indicate this.

But I honestly feel teachers have a pretty accurate idea how the students are going to perform in the Junior Cert. Most students will have done "mocks" and I doubt if there are huge surprises for most students in their results.

It would probably be better if the results were available as soon as the schools re opened, but as the exams branch of the Department of Education has made such an advance in getting them out by September 10th this year, we may find that they will be able to speed them up even further in subsequent years.

Q: Why will they not let students into engineering degrees without honours maths? My son is doing engineering at higher level in the Leaving Cert, yet however well he does in this, they will not accept him onto a degree course without the higher maths. Is this not unfair? - Dublin 6 parent.

A: I'm not sure it is unfair. There is a difference between Leaving Cert engineering and Leaving Cert maths and I do not think the colleges could really accept them as equivalent.

As matters stand, I think your son would have difficulty with the engineering degree courses without honours maths.

Whether the higher - or honours - maths should continue to be a requirement is another matter. Even accepting that a high level of mathematical ability is necessary in engineering, one could pose the question as to whether the solution to the problem would not lie in teaching more intensive maths courses in first year engineering.

Certainly, the elusive C in higher maths - a B in the case of UCD - does limit the numbers applying in the case of many colleges; and students who start with diploma/ certificate courses in engineering - which do not require higher maths - often do quite well when they transfer to degree courses.

In the DIT. it has got to the somewhat absurd stage where the points to get into the preliminary engineering course (to prepare for the degree course without higher maths) are the same as for the degree itself(335). However, it is also the case that, with the new syllabus, the numbers opting for the higher maths course have gone up considerably and the percentage getting a C or above was very high this year.

At least UCD is dropping the bonus points for higher maths from its 1998 entry they will still apply next year. Your son's best option would probably be to go for the preliminary engineering course.

Q: I have a grandson aged 16 living in the US since 1991. Would he have to do the Leaving Cert to get into college in Ireland and if he got in would he get his fees paid? - south Dublin reader.

A: It is residence rather than nationality that counts when it comes to college entry, so your grandson is an American resident.

This means he is an overseas or foreign applicant and is not considered in the same category as Irish or other EU applicants. Therefore, it is up to the particular college to consider him on his merits and they have discretion on whether to offer him a place or not.

Certainly, his chances would be better if he did the Leaving Cert as US school results tend to be regarded as a bit vague. If he came to Ireland for two years and sat the Leaving Cert here, he would in all probability be considered among the main group of CAO applicants and would compete on his points. This would probably be his best chance of getting in to college here.

If he has been living outside of Ireland for the three years previous to going to college. his fees will not be paid as he would not qualify as a resident.