THE 2,708 Limerick students who received their Leaving Certificate exam results on Wednesday were the first to be subjected to a new, stricter grading system.
However, that didn’t stop Daniel Long of Gaelcholáiste Luimnigh scoring 625 points with 6 H1s and 1 H2, which significantly enhanced his prospects of studying medicine in Trinity College.
He was one of the 81 students who received their results at the all-Irish school on Sir Harry’s Mall in the city centre and he paid tribute to the exemplary guidance of his teachers, family and friends who helped him to be very well prepared for all the exams.
While the number of students sitting the exam increased by 0.1 per cent to 58,543, Limerick saw a slight decrease from 2732 to 2708.
More than 100 students collected their Leaving Certificate results from St Munchin’s College where there were cheers and smiles as they collected their envelopes from Principal David Quilter.
Stating that the students could be very proud of their achievement, he congratulated their teachers and parents who supported them over the past five or six years.
“I wish them all well on Monday when the CAO offers are made and in their future careers,” he added.
Included in the group receiving results were the Leaving Cert Applied class who he said had “really contributed to the programme and to our school.”
The new grading system reduces the number of grades to eight from 14 in the old system which has been in place since 1992.
Students will now receive grades measured at intervals of ten marks instead of five and any student scoring below 50 per cent will now receive no grade.
Letter grades such as A1, B2, C3 will be replaced with numerical ‘grade descriptors’, so if a student scored 90 to 100 marks in a subject, they will now get a “1” in place of an A1. If they scored 80 to 90 marks, they will receive a “2” instead of an A2 or B1.
With Leaving Cert results comes the Leaving Cert results parties and parents have been advised by drinkaware.ie, to discuss the subject of drinking with their children before they begin celebrating.
Chief Medical Officer of Drinkaware, Dr Liam Twomey said: “The post-results celebrations do not have to be synonymous with the now expected reports about drunken teenagers spilling out of nightclubs across the country. We simply should not accept that the two go hand in hand.
“It is important that students marking this achievement, especially those who are concerned with their results, do not use alcohol as a way to blow off steam; drinking to excess can have a serious impact on a young person’s physical and mental health,” Dr Twomey concluded.
