'The students are excited': Junior Cert results issued today

The long wait is finally over for more than 8,100 Junior Certificate students in Cork who will receive their examination results today.

The 8,186 students will be among the 72,828 across the country receiving their results, in a year that saw a record number of students sit the exams. Last year, the figure topped the 70,000 mark for the first time.

This year’s figure represents a 3% increase on the amount of pupils who sat the exam in 2023.

From this morning, school authorities can access the results in digital format through the State Examination Commission’s schools portal, with further arrangements to be made by school authorities to print the statements of provisional results for issue to candidates.

Speaking ahead of results day to The Echo, the principal of Kinsale Community School, Fergal McCarthy, said: “The students are excited, they’ve put a lot of work into it and are looking forward to a positive outcome. They’re in transition year now, so June, for some, will be a little bit of a distant memory. Nonetheless, it is an experience they won’t forget. It is a significant exam.

“That being said, in a bygone era, it was a terminal exam for many, and thankfully that is no longer the case. It serves the purpose of providing the students with the experience of doing a State exam, and that is of benefit to them in the context of sitting the Leaving Cert.

“The exam time itself is a very stressful period, and the toll is felt by the whole family. So credit must also go to the homes and families of the students [because] that impacts the entire household.

“There may be those who are a little bit disappointed, but I would say to them to dust themselves down — it’s not a defining moment, and there are plenty of opportunities for them to remediate any shortfalls ahead of the Leaving Cert.”

Aaron Wolfe, principal of Coláiste Éamann Rís secondary school, said: “It’s an exciting time for the students, it’s the culmination of three years’ hard work.

“The students are naturally nervous and excited — it’s the end of one chapter in their lives and an opportunity now to focus on the future, their career prospects, and to use fourth year as a time to experience new opportunities, make new friends, and to start focusing on their Leaving Certificate exams and future career path.”

Adam Kelly, assistant principal of Le Chéile secondary school, said: “The students here are very excited — it’s the first set of results that we will have gotten here, as we only opened with this group three years ago — so that makes it extra special.

“They’re really looking forward to it now, and so are the teachers.”