Leaving results: newslines
Footballer celebrates good score
A former Manchester City youth and reserve player who represented Ireland at the under-20 World Cup during his Leaving Certificate year was yesterday celebrating getting 425 points in his exams, writes John Downes. Stephen Paisley (21), who has been accepted on to the prestigious sports science degree at DCU, said he did much of his study between training sessions.
"I had to train for the whole year, three nights a week with a game on Saturday," he said. "I wasn't expecting to do as well as I did. I was out of the education system for four years when I was at Manchester City." "But I came back to a precarious situation. I didn't know what was happening. I knew I wanted to play football at a high level, but I knew the only way to do anything in this country is to get your Leaving Cert."
Paisley, who hopes to continue playing football while finishing his education, said he wanted to be an example to other young players contemplating a career in the game.
Students who were not academically oriented should not rule out completing their Leaving Certificate, he said. Any student who was good academically should finish their Leaving Certificate before moving to the UK to pursue a football career.
"Try and get your Leaving Cert before going over . . . at the end of the day, the only way you can look after yourself is to get the Leaving Certificate."
Pensioner to take gap year
A 65-year-old man who passed his Leaving Cert in Killarney yesterday said he was going to take a gap year before deciding whether to do a third-level course, writes Anne Lucey. Mr Eugene Carton from Killarney gained what he modestly termed good passes in five subjects, including English, history, geography, biology, history and business studies, after studying for two years at the VTOS centre in Killarney. While studying the course, Mr Carton was told he could take three years as he had left school at 14½. "I decided to continue and do it in two years."
Terminally-ill teenager had passed
The family of the 17-year-old Athlone boy who died while sitting the Leaving Cert in June were yesterday delighted to discover he passed every exam he sat, writes Liam Horan. Peter Hill sat all but one of his exams, despite a rapid deterioration in his health. He sat some of his exams in Tullamore General Hospital before being transferred to St James's Hospital, where he died on June 22nd.
His parents picked up his results yesterday and were happy to discover he passed all his exams. "He wasn't able to sit construction studies, but he did very well in the other exams," said his father Trevor. Peter sat English, maths, French, Irish, biology and business studies. He was diagnosed with two rare genetic disorders in 2000.
Record results in North
Northern Ireland A-level students have pulled further ahead of pupils in Britain as exam standards hit an all-time high, according to figures to be published today. Nearly a third of all sixth formers received top grades, with girls again outperforming boys. Out of 30,000 A-level entries in Northern Ireland, 97.4 per cent achieved A to E passes, compared with 96 per cent in England and Wales.