Alpha Grinds

Watch Brendan O'Connor's Cutting Edge Extras: The Leaving Cert online Al Porter, Niamh Horan and Dr. Ciara Kelly discuss the pressures of the Leaving Certificate and debate whether or not its importance is exaggerated.

Students who sit the new junior cycle programme from next year will be able to pass their final written exams by scoring as little as 20%.

Reforms to see students who get 20% in Junior Cert exams pass Move aimed at placing less emphasis on rote-learning and written exams

The reforms include a new grading system for the Leaving Certificate, reducing the number of grades from the current 14 to 8.

Leaving Cert overhaul: out with A, B, C in with 1, 2, 3 New points scale for CAO to be published in September under college entry revamp

Ranked according to % of students who go to university

The Top 25 schools in the country have been revealed | JOE.ie Top of the class

'Points have rocketed for many courses linked to expanding areas of the economy'

CAO: Points race speeding up as students chasing top jobs The points race is hotting up, with the country's brightest students racing to get into courses that will give them jobs in the hi-tech, engineering and financial worlds.

'The growth areas mirror sectors of the economy that are recovering, with students adjusting their first preferences based on the changing job market.'

Number of CAO courses needing 500 points up by 25% College entry points for engineering and commerce rise in line with economy

Girls outperformed boys in 25 out of 32 subjects at higher level

Girls do it again, with better grades in Leaving Cert Girls continue to outperform boys in the Leaving Certificate, according to a gender breakdown of the results.

"Remember, you count the best six scores you’ve achieved across all subjects."

The Leaving Cert results have arrived. What now? CAO offers for college places will be made on Monday. What can you expect to happen next, and how do you handle it?

"One of the biggest outlays is on the cost of the registration fee, which is set to hit €3,000 this year."

Majority of parents forced to borrow for college costs Parents celebrating their children's Leaving Cert success will be hit with massive bills to support them through college.

"12pc of parents will consider using a moneylender to cover back to school costs."

Parents are stressed out as back-to-school costs hit home One-third of parents are stressed due to financial concerns, despite the upturn in the economy, according to new figures from the Irish Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (IAC

Students have until July 1st to finalise their course choices on the CAO form - choose wisely!

CAO Change of Mind | The Irish Times School's out - time to focus on the CAO and college choices: Law, humanities, teaching, science, media, architecture, business, engineering, law, technology

With exams just around the corner make sure to stay hydrated, eat well and get plenty of sleep!

The Day of the Exam: 15 Tips to Boost your Exam Performance It's never too late to achieve exam success! Follow our 15 tips for the day of your exam to boost your exam performance. Find out more ExamTime here.