This has everything to do with the minister’s decision in April to continue the adjustment of grades upwards, noting the ongoing impact of the pandemic on the learning journey of the class of 2024.

As with 2022 and 2023, post-marking adjustments to the results have ensured grades in the aggregate remain at the same level.

This year, 68% of all grades increased following the marking process, compared to just over 71% in 2023 and 50% in 2022. This is great news for candidates, but it will inevitably affect the CAO, putting pressure on universities to choose from top candidates in the most sought-after courses. If students of 2024 defer, there are valid concerns that students starting in fifth or sixth year this September could suffer. It will be fascinating to see how these inflated grades are phased out in the coming years, presumably by another minister.

There are some small changes worth celebrating this year.

The migration of more students towards the Leaving Cert Applied option, as opposed to the Leaving Cert Established, is promising. A total of 60,839 candidates received Leaving Certificate results on Friday; 56,791 candidates followed the Leaving Certificate (Established) programme, and 4,048 (6.6%) candidates followed the Leaving Certificate Applied programme.

While there was a slight drop overall (-1.45%) in the cohort compared to 2023, the number of candidates who participated in the Leaving Certificate Applied programme has increased by 8.5% in the same period. Small gains for the Leaving Cert Applied programme perhaps, but a cultural move away from our bottleneck mindset of the past — with all students being funnelled towards university, often to drop out months later.

Certainly, the language around the Leaving Certificate is improving, with Further and Higher Education Minister Patrick O’Donovan reminding students yesterday that: “There are so many different opportunities available now for students, including FET and PLC courses, more than 70 different apprenticeships, and of course the new, unified tertiary degree courses, which allow students to earn a degree outside of the CAO system.”

Education Minister Norma Foley similarly mentioned the various routes offered by “further or higher education, an apprenticeship, work, or other possibilities”.

This is all great news for education, and long overdue.

Looking at the very top marks, and how easy they are to achieve across subjects, there was a slight upturn from last year in higher maths, with 12.6% of students receiving H1, up from 11.2%, and a contrasting downturn in students achieving the very top grades in Irish and English.

English is particularly interesting, with only 6.9% of students achieving a H1 in the higher-level paper.

As an English teacher, I’d suggest that this has much to do with how the subject is designed, as a mix of both English language and literature, something that works wonderfully at junior cycle, but could change at senior cycle to allow for more student choice.

Other non-curricular languages, studied outside school, yielded startlingly high results for students. Top of the pops was Russian, with 77.6% of 833 candidates claiming the H1.

This is in stark contrast to the 6.9% of students who obtained a H1 in higher-level English this year, or the 14.1% of students who received the same result in Irish. Interestingly, the Russian exam reads just like a second language exam, like French or German, testing comprehension, grammar, and composition. The Russian paper, presumably taken by at least some native speakers, is clearly aimed at second language speakers. A minority of native speakers are benefiting here.

Not that they won’t have struggled in English and Irish. Both assume absolute fluency, hence the intense focus on literary analysis. With Ireland’s changing population, this might be an interesting area of development in future years. Might students have an opportunity to sit different English and Irish papers based on their individual context? Perhaps, as is the case in England, English literature might be taught as a separate and potentially choice subject.

The same could apply for Irish literature, giving gaelscoileanna a deserved advantage. Might students have the option of an Irish paper for non-native speakers, potentially lowering the demand for Irish exemptions in our schools, and exposing more students to cúpla focal?

Students are certainly responding well to other changes in the Leaving Cert.

The numbers sitting the two newest Leaving Certificate subjects continue to rise. The cohort sitting physical education is up this year by approximately 12% and computer science is up approximately 28%.

Also, under the programme of senior cycle redevelopment, there is improved access for Leaving Certificate Applied candidates to Leaving Certificate Established Mathematics and Modern Foreign Languages. A total of 16 Leaving Certificate Applied candidates took subjects in the Established Leaving Certificate.

All small changes, but positive, nonetheless. 

Let’s hope we see more of them, keeping student choice, and a broader understanding of education, at the centre of our decision-making.