The wait is over for the 65,000 students who sat the Leaving Cert earlier this summer. The results are in the schools today and students around the country are busy opening envelopes, congratulating and condoling with each other.

The Leaving Cert, for most students, is not the end of their years in education. Most will be looking towards further education or training in the form of third-level courses, apprenticeships, Post Leaving Certificate courses, cadetships, CERT and Teagasc courses . . . Some students, in this tiger economy, will enter employment directly. Others are wondering if they should repeat the Leaving Cert.

The vast majority of Leaving Cert students have applied for college places through the Central Applications Office. This year the CAO received applications from 65,288 students, an increase of almost 3,000 on last year's figure of 62,581. Last year, 32,674 students took up offers which had been made to them through the CAO.

In all, the Higher Education Authority estimates there were 34,300 first-year places last year and there will be about 35,000 this year. This represents about one place for every two applicants but, of course, the ratio of applicants to places varies widely from course to course.

The next few weeks can be a worrying time as students and parents make decisions on accepting or rejecting offers. About 77,000 offers were made last year so the offers made outweigh the number of students applying. This does not mean that every student got an offer. And, for these students, it's particularly important to realise the possibilities outside the CAO system. Look at page 22 for a round-up of training and education opportunities outside the CAO.

This year, the Department of Education has sanctioned 22,727 PLC places, the highest number yet, and this exciting sector offers students valid alternatives to traditional third-level courses. There is no central applications system for PLCs so we have compiled a list of PLC colleges with their phone numbers on pages 13, 15, 18 and 20.

This supplement is designed to help students and parents through the next few weeks as college offers are made. It complements the daily College Places column which will keep students and parents up to date on points requirements, course vacancies, PLC and repeat opportunities. Keep your copy of this supplement for a few weeks as it contains lists of useful phone numbers for repeat colleges, PLC colleges and British colleges.

In addition to points, many courses specify specific subject requirements. Students should turn to the master chart of essential subjects in this supplement. This comprehensive guide has been prepared by The Irish Times and is not available in this form elsewhere. You must fulfil these subject requirements to secure a place on your desired course. So, while you don't yet know the points needed for this year, you can at least reassure yourself that you are eligible for a place.

This supplement also contains a chart which detail last year's cut-off points for all of the courses - certificate, diplomas and degrees - within the CAO system. Of course, the points for the various courses will rise or fall this year so this chart is only a rough guide to what you can expect next Tuesday.

Certain courses, such as actuarial studies, medicine, dentistry, law, pharmacy and physiotherapy always command high cut-off levels and it's unlikely that points for these courses will fall significantly as there has not been any significant increase in the number of places available. The number of teacher training places has increased this year so that there are 730 places available on B Ed courses.

About 10,000 Irish students are pursuing undergraduate courses in Britain and Northern Ireland. This year a sliding scale of fees, up to an annual maximum of £1,000, has been introduced in these colleges. An update and a full listing of British colleges and the corresponding educational authority appears from pages 26 to 32.

The cost of going to college is a huge consideration for students and parents. Both DCU and USI prepare costings for college life which should give you a reasonable indication of what costs are involved. Pages 6 and 7 also contain charts with information on maintenance grants.

Whether you got good or bad news today, we hope that this supplement will help you negotiate your way through the college-offers season.