That ubiquitous teen accessory, the mobile phone, means Leaving Cert exam results can be accessed today from beaches, buses and boulevards. There's no need to beat a path back to the old alma mater any more.
This year the Department of Education has put an automated dial-up facility in place and exam candidates can ring 1 530 719 808 from noon today until Friday. Calls cost 26p a minute and it is anticipated that the average call will last two minutes. The automated answering service can accept more than 4,000 calls an hour, according to the Department of Education.
To access your results you will need your examination number and the PIN number which you got during June. Schools have also been issued with master lists of pin numbers.
The results will also be sent to schools and available in the usual manner. So if you would prefer to meet up with your friends and revisit old haunts, or if you just won't believe the results until you have the slip of paper in your hand, then by all means visit the school.
If you're lucky enough to be basking in the sunshine abroad, you will need to dial a separate number: 353 1 2144 303.
And remember - results are not a verdict on how you performed over your school years, how well rounded a person you are, how talented you are or your future career prospects. They are simply the verdict on how you answered certain questions in a limited time. For those looking towards third level, it's too early to tell if your results have secured you a college place. If you applied for one through the Central Applications Office, and most school-leavers have, the suspense continues. This year, the CAO received applications from 63,145 people, a slight decrease on last year's 64,996.
The CAO will post out college offers next Monday and the cut-off points will be published in the College Places supplement in The Irish Times next Tuesday.
After you have converted your results to points - look at today's College 2000 supplement for a helpful chart - there is very little you can do other than sit back and wait. The college admissions officers need a little time to juggle places and results before they will authorise the CAO to issue offers.
Last year's cut-off points are also contained in the supplement. They are a rough guide only to what may happen this year. The cut-off points are not arbitrary levels set by the colleges. They are a function of supply (the number of first-year places colleges make available) and demand (the number of applicants and their points levels).
This year the Leaving Certificate exams went fairly smoothly, with quibbles rather than major complaints from teachers and students.
The Points Commission, which looked into college entry procedures, came up with some interesting statistics. Only 3.3 per cent of school-based candidates who sat the Leaving Certificate in 1997 scored in excess of 450 points. This is a statistic students and parents should take a little time over.
If you have achieved in this range, you should congratulate yourself. Your hard work has paid dividends. Unfortunately, you may also be one of those students who has set his or her sights on a course such as medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine or physiotherapy where the cut-off points are perennially high and nothing else will do. So, your results may be a source of worry rather than joy until you get Tuesday's offer notice. Do try and shelve those worries for a few days and celebrate how well you have done.
In 1997, 13 per cent achieved 405 points or more. Slightly less than one-third scored a minimum of 250 points while 50 per cent gained 140 points or more.
This means that more than half of the 1997 candidates had a minimum of two grade C3s on higher-level papers and four D3s at ordinary-level. This is the National University of Ireland matriculation standard.
Last year, vacant places were advertised on almost 100 third-level courses. Many of these were certificates and diplomas in the institutes of technology where the minimum educational requirement was five passes in the Leaving Certificate (five ordinary-level D3s, or, in other words, 25 points).
As the Minister for Education and Science, Dr Woods, reminded us earlier this week: "There will be in excess of 24,000 places for first-year entrants to third-level education in September for over 60,000 students who sat the Leaving Cert exam this year. There will be some 20,000 places on Post Leaving Cert courses covering a very extensive, exciting and attractive range of options to cater for different career interests for which there is a high demand." There are also education and training opportunities in agriculture and horticulture with Teagasc; in tourism with CERT; in nurse education; and in apprenticeships with FAS.
This is particularly important if you are one of the 2,500 students who sat the Leaving Certificate Applied this year, as you are not eligible to apply for third-level places. A survey of last year's LCA graduates carried out in January and February this year showed that 36 per cent were in employment, 23 per cent were doing a PLC course and 16.5 per cent had begun apprenticeships. LCA students may progress via PLCs to third-level certificate and diploma courses and, onwards, to degree and postgraduate awards.
Nursing: If you're interested in training as a nurse, you should look out for ads from the Nursing Careers Centre, which will be advertising a supplementary competition tomorrow, Friday and Sunday. Any vacant places will be filled through this process.
Mature applicants who have not applied previously or who failed the assessment test in April must sit an assessment test. School-leavers who meet An Bord Altranais's minimum educational requirements and mature students who pass the assessment test will be called to interview on September 19th, 20th and 21st.
A spokeswoman for the NAC says the number and location of vacant places is not yet known but it is expected that these places will be in psychiatric and mental-handicap nursing.
Contact the Nursing Applications Centre (supplementary competition) at PO Box 7887, Dublin 2, or telephone 1 890 201065. Website: www.nursingboard.ie
Group Orders
The College 2000 column will appear from Monday to Friday for the duration of the college offers season. Teachers can place group orders for The Irish Times by calling 1 800 798884 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday.