Q&A: I've got my Leaving Cert grades. What happens next?
The CAO has received 68,769 applications this year from people presenting Leaving Cert results. File photo
The roughly 60,000 students who sat the Leaving Cert in June will receive their results at 10am this morning. They can be accessed through the online Candidate Self Service Portal.
The massive difference this year is that we’re back – kind of – to the more traditional pre-pandemic Leaving Cert. But, as we return to a more traditional Leaving Cert, the issue remains around the huge improvement in the grades received by the classes of 2020 and 2021.
The Government has given a commitment that the results, on aggregate, would be no lower for the class of 2022 than they were for the class of 2021 and a number of adjustments were made to papers and how they’re graded to achieve that.
The next big day is Thursday, September 8, when the first round of CAO offers are released. They’ll be available from 2pm online, and also issued by email and SMS text.
Students have until 3pm on Wednesday, September 14, to accept a place in the first round. Round 2 offers will then be available from 10am on Monday, September 19. The rounds go all the way up to Round 5 before fully closing in October.
You have a very short window to apply to view the marked exam scripts, and decide if you want to appeal the results.
You can apply to view scripts from 5pm next Tuesday until 8pm on Wednesday. You will then be able to view your script on the Candidate Self Service Portal – if it was marked online – from 9am on Saturday, September 10, to midday on Sunday, September 11.
If you then want to appeal you have to do it online between 9am on September 10 and midday on September 12.
Because of the system implemented to ensure this year’s grades are on a par with last year’s, students looking at their papers will likely see a lower mark there than what they were eventually given as their grade.
As usual, competition is likely to be fierce for places. The CAO has received 68,769 applications this year from people presenting Leaving Cert results.
With record-breaking grades last year, CAO entry point cut-offs subsequently jumped to record-breaking highs. In 2021, 22 courses saw their cut-off points soar upwards of 600 compared to just one in 2019.
Last year, about 70 college courses had to use a lottery of random selection to determine entry for students. This was despite thousands of extra college places created in 2020 and 2021. All eyes will now turn to the CAO points next week.
