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Guidance Counsellor Billy Ryle has welcomed news that the Leaving Certificate results will be released earlier this year…
A bit of good news is always welcome before any big event. That’s exactly what public exam candidates received on Wednesday afternoon when the State Examinations Commission (SEC) announced that the Leaving Cert exam results will be released on Friday, 25th August.
That date is a full week earlier than the 2022 results date of Friday, 2nd September. A week earlier may not seem significant but it means that Round One of CAO college offers is likely to be available before third level colleges open for the new academic year.
First year college students, known as Freshers, are likely to be in time for an orientation course, which is an invaluable introduction to college life.
They will also be on campus in time for the beginning of lectures which was problematic during the past few years because of the very late release of Leaving Cert results.
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ACCOMMODATION
Students heading off to college for the first time this year will also be able to join the race for the much sought after accommodation at an earlier stage.
Hopefully, it will give them a much better chance of securing affordable accommodation rather than having to made a long daily commute from home to college.
EXTRA PLACES
Another bit of timely good news is the availability of about 450 new places in health care related courses.
Watch out for MTU Kerry’s recently launched Bachelor of Science (Ordinary Bachelor Degree, Level 7) in Veterinary Nursing (MT784), which is an exciting addition to its portfolio of third level courses.
It’s a 3yr course offering 32 places for the 2023/24 academic year. Graduates from this programme will qualify to progress onto a Level 8 (Honours Degree) in a cognate field. The Bachelor of Science in Veterinary Nursing (Ordinary Bachelor Degree, Level 7) will prepare a student for a career as a veterinary nurse in a veterinary practice.
Course development in MTU Kerry since it acquired University status has been very impressive and, no doubt, there is much more to come.
VET PLACES
There is also talk about extra places in Veterinary Medicine. The only Veterinary school in the CAO system is in UCD, which offers only 85 places per annum.
Twice as many students are forced to go abroad each year to universities in countries like Hungary and Poland. There has been a lot of talk in recent times about locating a second School of Veterinary Medicine in the Munster region.
University of Limerick and University College Cork were quick to throw their locations in the ring. For me, MTU Kerry’s Tralee campus is the ideal choice with the best Vets, the best land and the best animal herds based in Kerry.
NEW LINK
Another new departure this year is the new link up between the CAO, on the one hand, and Queen’s University and the University of Ulster, on the other hand, to provide 25 places in Medicine and dozens of places in Nursing. A separate entry process is being set-up to facilitate CAO applicants to these new courses.
CHANGE OF MIND
CAO Change of Mind facility remains open on www.cao.ie until 5pm on the 1st July and all new courses that come on stream before that date can be found on the interactive CAO Handbook 2023.
DEFERRED EXAM
There will again be a series of deferred exams at the 2023 Leaving Cert. The deferred series will run from 29th June to the 15th July.
Following a review by the SEC, the scheme of deferred Leaving Cert exams for 2023 is being provided on the same grounds as in 2022 with one change in order to provide for a candidate who experiences an extreme medical emergency during an exam.
There is also a minor change to the timing of eligibility for access on grounds of bereavement. There has also been an increase in the timeline for the completion of an application from four working days to five working days.
NUMBERS
134,800 candidates have entered for the state exams this year. That’s an increase of 3,400 (about 2.5%) on last year’s figure. 60,200 have applied to sit the Leaving Cert Established exam while 3,800 have applied to sit the Leaving Certificate Applied exam.
CSSP
Results will issue to candidates through the Candidate Self Service Portal (CSSP) available at www.examinations.ie and on www.gov.ie/leavingcertificate. The SEC will be issuing a direct communication to candidates by email about the planned date for issue of the Leaving Certificate results and about the arrangements for their exams more generally.
• Billy Ryle is a Career Guidance Counsellor and Educational Commentator
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