Wait for 56,000 Leaving Cert students nears end

The nervous wait for the more than 56,000 students who sat their Leaving Certificates this year ends tomorrow with the release of their results.

Students who have applied for third-level education will have to wait another week for the Central Applications Office to post its first round of offers.

At the same time as first round offers are issued to successful applicants, notices will be sent to the unlucky candidates who do not receive any offer.

Last year, of the 56,237 who sat Leaving Certificate exams, 101 students, or 0.2 per cent, scored 600 points. Four students achieved eight A1 grades.

Just over 4,000 managed between 500 and 600, while the vast majority, around 66 per cent, scored between 200 and 500. Over 6,300 scored less than 100 points.

Results this year will show over 10 per cent of students failed maths, while science subjects also had high failure rates.

The Minister for Education and Science, Mr Dempsey, yesterday backed a radical reform plan for the Leaving Cert, which will see an increase in the use of continuous assessment and project work. There will also be less emphasis on the written exams in June.

Mr Dempsey also wants to change the name of the exam to the "Senior Cert".

The Union of Secondary Students (USS) called for radical revamp of the education system, arguing there was "unacceptable stress" being put on students, which was partly to blame for the high rates of  suicide and alcohol and drug abuse among Irish teenagers.

The USS said basing student's whole future on the results of a few highly stressed hours in an exam hall is "a form of cruelty".

The union also urged all students to be safe in their celebrations tomorrow, warning them to drink legally and in moderation, not to leave drinks unattended and to travel in  groups.

Online results service for the 2004 Leaving Certificate Examination will be available on the State Examinations Commission website ( www.examinations.ie)  from noon tomorrow.

Results of the Junior Certificate will be available in mid-September.

The Irish Timeshas a free helpline for Leaving Certificate students that can be accessed by calling 1800-946942 from 8.00 a.m. tomorrow.

The helpline, with expert advice from guidance counsellors, will be open for 12 hours until 8.00 p.m. and again on Thursday.  The service will also be available when the CAO offers are published.