Leaving Cert results and CAO 2026: our experts answer your questions
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CAO and Leaving Cert news
What impact will ongoing grade-enhancement reductions have on CAO points?
Continuing enhancement of Leaving Cert results, even at a reduced level, means an ongoing distorting effect
Leaving Cert results: Will CAO points rise or fall? The questions students are asking
Many school leavers are concerned about points requirements for courses. But there are also career pathways beyond the traditional route
Leaving Cert results: Tears and joy as students receive results; grades down compared with last year
Leaving Cert results have been delivered to more than 730 second-level schools, and are available online now
I’m now a lecturer at the college that didn’t offer me a place when I did my Leaving Cert
Being rejected from NCAD at 17 felt devastating, but more than two decades later Rachel knows one letter did not determine her future
‘Mum is in tears, she can’t talk’: Student who left school in second year gets 625 points in Leaving Cert
She studied the Leaving Cert course through online grinds, which she worked to pay for, and through the use of free online teaching videos on YouTube
Balancing act continues as Leaving Cert grades drop back by an average of just over 1%
Timelines for fully removing pandemic-related post-marking adjustment will continue to be informed by the 2026 experience
Leaving Cert points calculator: How many CAO points are your results worth?
First round college offers will be out on August 30th
You have your Leaving Cert results. Now what?
Stay calm and ensure you are clear on how to interpret your grades as they relate to your college requirements
Appeal, wait, go abroad, repeat: what can you do if you don’t get your first CAO choice?
Students from the class of 2026 have more options than ever
Leaving Cert results: One of the most beloved subjects proves, yet again, to be one of the hardest
Physics and chemistry are often perceived as difficult subjects, but they tend to have a high H1 rate
CAO points system cannot be used to measure intelligence
People possess distinct intelligences, not just one or two that can be captured by an IQ test or examination
Covid impacts and enhanced grades: five takeaways from 2026 Leaving Cert results
Friday’s results, in the aggregate, are close to those awarded in 2020
Leaving Cert 2026: A unique second-level journey ends
Whatever results you have just received are a mark of your resilience over six uniquely challenging years
Advice for first years: ‘You don’t find yourself at university, you kind of create yourself there’
Bel Aghedo has completed her first year of a law degree at University of Galway
Are you too late for campus accommodation? What should you do now?
On-campus housing can be both expensive and difficult to secure
Leaving Cert results: Life isn’t about exams, fractions or poets
The Irish Times will publish a special supplement for those navigating one of the most important milestones in Irish education
Leaving Cert 2026: What time are the results out and what are other key dates?
From the initial release of results through to the appeals process and on to rounds of college offers
A parent’s guide to results day: This is not the time for ‘I told you so’
Thousands of disappointed students have always found a way forward
Advice for first years: ‘It’s okay if you don’t know what you’re doing’
Alex Griu is a second-year psychology student at Trinity College Dublin
Leaving Cert results: Dealing with disappointment may be new, but it’s a critical life skill too
Students should realise that many people who suffered exam setbacks have gone on to leave big marks on Ireland and the wider world
Donagh Barry’s Axis Education invests in Sligo edtech firm Studyclix
Founded by Luke Saunders and software developer Keith Wright, the company provides exam preparation aids to students and teachers
Almost 9,000 college offers issued today to students under ‘Round Zero’ of CAO
First round offers, for those awaiting 2026 Leaving Cert exam grades, will be issued on August 26th
Donagh Barry firm banked €4m payout from college group before Axis Education deal
Investor merged his three colleges with fast-growing Dublin Academy of Education grinds school last year
The crunch CAO question: What kind of thinker do I want to be?
Making your CAO decision is just the starting point for a working life that will involve not only multiple jobs but multiple careers
There are many reasons for changing your CAO choices, but be careful of ‘the most dangerous one’
With a week to go, there is enough time to adopt an approach that keeps the ‘end of the world’ feeling at bay
Ireland’s most unusual and intriguing third-level courses
A selection of less conventional options for study after secondary school
Harris meets finance influencers, the three-day abortion wait and the hottest day ever?
Early Edition with Aideen Finnegan
CAO 2026 calendar: With the Leaving Cert over, here are the important dates you need to know
Now that the exams are past-tense, what next in the choreography of securing college places?
One week to nail your decision ... how to make the most of the time you have left
Key questions to ask before the CAO change of mind deadline
Decision time nears for final CAO course selection – here’s what you need to know
Understanding course requirements and content, and what you really want, should be key priorities before you finalise selections
Beyond the CAO: Exploring the other educational pathways now open to school leavers
Belief that academic success directly relates to career success in a high status job is under serious question
Awarding extra CAO points for Irish is not the answer
Other subjects would suffer while mediocrity in Irish was promoted
So your daughter wants to study science at university? First, take a reality check
It will be at least 13-18 years after the Leaving Certificate before there is any possibility of her getting a permanent academic position
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