THE day the Leaving Cert results come out is when students begin to seriously panic and start rushing around trying to find out information about college courses and places. Hence all the special telephone helplines, radio phone in and all the rest.
So what were the people in the colleges doing on the very day they could expect an avalanche of inquiries from applicants?
Attending church, it would appear. For yesterday was August 5th, the Feast of the Assumption, a church holiday and being the religious people that they are most of the RTCs and the PLC colleges closed down and went off to pray for the day. So, it seems did the two main colleges of education, St Pat's, Drumcondra and Mary Immaculate in Limerick.
The universities were all open as were Sligo and Tallaght RTCs and a helpful telephone operator at Dundalk RTC offered to find someone to answer admissions queries.
Not only was Limerick RTC closed yesterday for the church holiday but, the telephone operator told us, the admissions office is still closed today for annual leave. Surely, the day after the Leaving Cert results come out is an extraordinary time to close for annual leave?
Several callers to Points Race complained that PLC colleges were closed yesterday, also. The CAO was open and dealing with both personal and telephone callers.
. RECHECKS:
Many students on the phone to this column yesterday were preoccupied with whether to seek a recheck of their results. As in other years most of the dissatisfaction with grades applied to English though we had quite - a few complaints about business organisation also.
There was some annoyance with the tight deadline for rechecks - closing date this day week (Friday August 23rd). This means that school principals, through whom recheck requests must be channelled, would need to post the requests on Wednesday to be sure of reaching Athlone by Friday.
It would be very difficult for principals to make a decision on a recheck without discussing the matter with the subject teacher but most teachers do not return until the following week, or indeed the week after. Many students and parents feel this is going to force schools to be more reluctant to sanction rechecks.
Leaving Cert students who are "extern" candidates, i.e. those who sat the exam outside of the mainstream second level school system (private repeat colleges, night classes etc) got a recheck application form in the post with their results yesterday, which leads this column to wonder why school based candidates cannot do the same?
Perhaps the time has come to allow students and their parents to make their own decisions on recheck requests. It might result in a flood of frivolous requests, but it is also possible that students are mature enough to know whether a recheck is realistic. It would be at least worth trying on a pilot basis?
Some students we spoke to were placing all their hopes on a possible upgrading. But the odds from previous years are not great. Last year 7,580 students applied for a recheck and only 500 of those were regraded; this represents a success rate of 6 per cent. In the case of English, 1,639 applied and 203 were up graded, 503 applied in Irish and only 11 were upgraded while only 16 out of 327 were upgraded in history. These figures all apply to higher level; very few ordinary level students seek rechecks.
Clearly, a student who has consistently been getting higher grades and whose Leaving Cert results are out of line with her performance to date should seek a recheck. But do not assume that an upgrading is inevitable and make sure you do not turn down any course offers in the meantime on the assumption of an upgrading. The recheck results do not come out until September 27th; by then the third round of offers will have come and gone in the CAO.
. REPEATS:
Many of our callers yesterday were also concerned with making a decision on whether to repeat or not.
It's important to think it over carefully before deciding to commit yourself to another year of studying the same things. Plenty of people improve with a repeat, but we spoke to students yesterday who did not do any better - and to some who did worse.
Look at the points for the course you are aiming for; then work out what grades you would need to get in each subject in a repeat Leaving Cert to make those points. And ask yourself the question: do I really, honestly believe that I can get those grades?
It is also worth looking at it from another angle: how hard did you work this year? Is it really feasible to put in even more work next year if you repeat?
This column's advice would be to sit tight until the offers come out next Tuesday and you can see exactly what you have available. You might find when you look into it that your fifth or sixth choice is a lot more attractive than you thought and is a better bet than repeating.
. UCAS:
The central admissions office for British and Northern Ireland universities gets a Leaving Cert results disc from the CAO here. However, most colleges strongly advise students to send a copy of their results directly to the admissions tutor of the college where they have been made a conditional offer.
This could speed things up. If you have the grades specified on the offer, there is no problem, your place offer will be confirmed. If you have failed to make the specified grades but come close, it can often pay to ring the admissions tutor directly and offer some plausible explanation for the shortfall you can often talk yourself into a place this way. Getting your school guidance counsellor to do this for you can be even more helpful.
The first lists of vacant places available in the "Clearing" system will be published on Sunday; more about that in tomorrow's column.
. UNIVERSITY OF ULSTER:
Those who have conditional offers and have met the grades need do nothing; their confirmed offers will arrive next week. Those who have not met the grades or who have not applied at all yet for a UU course can ring the following numbers for advice and information on vacancies and course requirements.
Jordanstown Campus: 08-01-232 366 850/1/2/3
Coleraine/Magee: 08-01-265 324 941/2
The lines are operational from 8.45a.m. till 3.45 p.m. today and up to 4.45 p.m. on Monday to Thursday next week.
There will be an advice day in Jordanstown next Wednesday, Coleraine on Thursday and Magee on Friday; more information tomorrow.
. CADETSHIPS:
The defence forces are dovetailing very nicely with the CAO/CAS system and will actually get their offers of cadet ships out ahead of the CAO this year. The army press office told Points Race yesterday that they hope to send out the offers tomorrow which would mean they would be received by applicants on Monday morning.
. COLLEGE OF SURGEONS:
First round offers here will be made on Friday, August 23rd. Pity they could not make the extra effort and get them out by Wednesday. It would make life so much easier for students applying to both the CAO and Surgeons if they knew where they stood with both earlier in the week. There's still enough time to wait for a possible Surgeons offer before accepting the CAO, of course, (CAO closing date Wednesday 28th), but a day or two earlier would make such a difference.
. DIT SPECIAL MATHS EXAM:
The special maths exam for students needing higher level maths for DIT engineering degrees will be held in DIT Kevin Street next Wednesday. Today is the closing date for applications to sit this exam. Applicants would need to drop a letter of application plus a £5 exam fee in to the admissions office in Kevin Street before the end of the day. This exam is only for students who need a higher C in maths for a DIT engineering degree and failed to get it in the Leaving Cert. The wrong closing date was inadvertently given in our supplement yesterday.