merrion street

Education Minister Ruairí Quinn sent his warm congratulations to the 58,798 students who will receive their Junior Certificate Results today.

Across the country young people and those returning to education are collecting their results in post primary schools. The results will also be available on-line on www.examinations.ie from 4pm today.

Minister Quinn said:

I want to send my very best wishes to all students who are receiving their Junior Cert exams results today. The wait between June and now has no doubt been long for you and your families, but I hope that the results today reflect the hard work you have put into your studies.

This year, the 24 schools involved in the pilot Project Maths initiative sat exams in Strands 1-4 of the new programme. All other students continue to use the existing Maths syllabus.

2012 also saw more students opting for higher level Maths with 48% of all learners sitting the higher papers.

Minister Quinn added:

I am particularly pleased to see that more young people are sitting higher level Maths, which is a stated aim of Project Maths. This increase has occurred even without the ‘carrot’ of bonus points for Maths, whose introduction this year at Leaving Cert level saw a large leap in the numbers opting for the higher level paper. I hope this is an indication of where we are going with Maths.

Changes announced two years ago in the Irish exam are also having a marked impact. The marks for the oral exam were increased in 2010 from 20 to 40%. While the oral component is optional, the number of candidates opting to be examined orally rose dramatically by 72% to 7,388 since 2011.

In the most popular subject, English, more candidates sat the higher level paper than at any time in the previous five years.

Students who wish to appeal their results can do so through their school by no later than Friday 28th of September.

Minister Quinn concluded:

Enjoy the celebrations with your friends and families and remember to look after each other.