THE average Leaving Cert score from today's results is somewhere about 250 points on the CAO scale. It is useful for students - and their parents - to bear this in mind when assessing their results this morning. Anyone whose results translate into, say, 260 or more points, is actually performing above the national average.
Only about 10 per cent of candidates score more than 450 points and when we get to the dizzy heights of 480 plus points, we're talking about only five per cent of the total candidates some 25 per cent of candidates will have scored 370 plus points. This year's results have not yet been translated into points, but" studies of Leaving Cert results since 1992 undertaken by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) have shown that these approximate percentages applied in each year.
The emphasis on high points courses can easily lead to the impression that a Leaving Cert of fewer than 400 points is tantamount to a failure, so it is important to look at one's results in the national context. The majority of students do not get more than 300 points and indeed many thousands of students get college places - and very good places - with fewer than 300 points. In the RTCs last year there were 165 courses which took in students on fewer than 300 points and most of those courses offered a ladder of progression from certificate through diploma to degree.
So scoring 300 - or indeed 250 - points in the Leaving Cert is no disgrace and there are many thousands of students who have gone on to make excellent careers for themselves on the basis off such results.
It is important to emphasise this. Every year this column gets calls from parents saying something like "I'm afraid we've had a disaster, my daughter has only got 490 points". The fact that this puts the daughter in the 19p, 5 per cent in the country is ignored because she needed 500 plus points for the course she had set her heart upon.
So before writing yourself off as a failure, just look at those results again and place them in the national context. Look at your Leaving Cert results positively concentrate on what they open up to you rather than what they exclude you from.
. WHAT TO DO NOW?
THE BEST advice for students getting their Leaving Cert results today is to do absolutely nothing for the moment. Go out, celebrate, let the implications of your results sink in. Above all do not rush out and do anything precipitate, because you do not really know until next week exactly where you stand. There is no point in rushing out and signing on for repeats, for example, until you know whether you are going to get a place offer or not.
Take some time to consider exactly what options are open to you if you do not get that coveted college place. Today's Going to College supplement provides much information on alternative courses and routes to a degree consider all options before making decisions.
. POINTS:
WELL, are the points going to go up or down? What hints do the Leaving Cert results give us on points? These are the questions which many students are asking today. Unfortunately, there are so many different equations to be taken into account that it is not at all clear from the results whether points will remain the same, fall - or even, in some cases, go up.
The proportion of higher As is up for Maths which tends to be a crucial subject as many of those aiming for high points courses tend to go for a good grade in maths. This could push points upwards but then the As are down for higher English, and this could have a downward effect. Higher As are also up for Irish which could be significant, but then they are down for history and for geography which could cancel out the increase in Irish.
The furthest I'd be prepared to go is to say that the results do not preclude a fall in points - there's hedging one's bets! If the percentage of As had been up in English, as well as Irish and Maths, this would have indicated to me that points would not fall for competitive courses but with the English higher As down, I'd acknowledge the possibility of a fall in points.
I don't think that the issue of increased places is really relevant to high points courses. There are no extra places in medicine, veterinary, dentistry, law, physiotherapy and most of the other competitive courses. Additional places, if they do exist, are in business/technology/computing and maybe arts.
Then there is the question of the fall in numbers sitting the Leaving Cert. According to the statistics published today (See the Going to College supplement, 700 fewer students sat the exam this year than last year (the Transition Year factor) but the number of applications to the CAO has fallen by fewer than 4,000. This means that the drop in numbers competing for CAO/ CAS places is some 3,000 fewer than the drop in total numbers sitting the exam. Where have these 3,000 come from, one might well ask? Are they last year's Leaving Cert students who decided to have another go in the expectation that points might fall?
Out telephone line has had calls from an unusually high number of students who have already completed a first year at college and have reapplied for a different course through the CAO. It makes sense, if you think about it. A student missed out on medicine by five points last year so opted to accept a place on a science degree and re apply for medicine this year anticipating a possible fall in points due to the Transition Year factor. If this is the case, they could represent another distorting factor on this year's points - we'll have to wait until Wednesday next to find out.
. RE-CHECKS:
STUDENTS who seriously fret that their results do not reflect their performance in the exams do have the opportunity to ask for a re check. A re check can only be requested by a school principal, so the student has to operate through the school it is not possible to initiate a recheck yourself. The idea is to discourage frivolous requests and it seems a reasonable precaution.
A fee of £25 applies to each subject for which a re check requested, but this will be refunded if there is an upgrading. The closing date for receipt of re check requests is tomorrow week, Friday, August 23rd. This really does not leave much time, for school principals to sort outs re checks. And as most school's do not even re open until September 1st, it makes it difficult for the principal to consult with the subject teacher, which would be the normal procedure.
So, do stop and consider carefully before approaching your school principal. Is there really a definite case for an appeal here? If you can contact your subject, teacher for advice, this would be the best approach. Failing that, go straight to the school principal.
The National Parents' Council has complained about the tightness of the deadline for rechecks, pointing out that creates difficulties for parent and school authorities. They are asking for flexibility on the deadline.
Incidentally, students are not downgraded on a recheck the results will either remain as they are or there will be an upgrading, so you are not running a risk of losing anything you have already. The success rate is not very high, though it is highest for English which attracts the largest number of appeals.
. REPEATS:
THE BIG Dublin City VEC colleges which provide repeat Leaving Cert courses are operating a series of information/enrolment sessions for students/parents starting next week. Appointments will have to be made by telephone for these sessions. The following are the colleges and telephone numbers: Ringsend Technical Institute (01-6684498); Rathmines Senior College (01-497534); Plunket College, Whitehall (01-8371680); Pearse College, Crumlin (01-4536661); St. Peter's College, Killester (01-8337686).
Appointments can be made for the following dates: Monday 19th, 10 am. to 12 pm.; Thursday 22nd, 10 am. to 12p.m.; Wednesday 28th, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.; Monday 2nd September, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The enrolment fee for the repeat year is £140; medical card holders are exempt.