Over 56,000 students around the country collect their Leaving Certificate results today.
This year has seen an improvement in Leaving Cert results awarded in higher level English and higher level maths, with over 75 per cent of students gaining an honour.
However, results also show high failure rates in maths at ordinary level, with almost 5,000 students failing this paper.
Science too produced disappointing results with 18 per cent of students failing ordinary level chemistry while 19 per cent failed biology and 13 per cent failed physics.
Meanwhile, the Minister for Education Mr Dempsey has announced an investigation into why some Leaving Cert papers are marked more harshly than others.
Honours, pass or fail, students will be looking to celebrate throughout today. The Union of Secondary Students has urged students to take part in a mature celebration.
"While encouraging students to have fun, we would also urge students to take extra safety precautions to ensure their security," said Daire Hickey of the USS.
The results can now be accessed from www.examinations.ie .