Almost 5,000 students repeated the Leaving Cert this year, a relatively low number in comparison with last year's tally of 8,157. Are students learning about maximising their options, and realising that a place in college is not the be-all and end-all of life? Although the drop is partially attributable to the now universally available Transition Year, this fall in the numbers is still significant.

The drop may be due to the fact that the message is getting through that it need not be "a degree or nothing", as Roisin Kelleher, president of the Institute of Guidance Counsellors, says. She believes that parents are more informed and that students are more mature today. More and more people are realising the value and relevance of the diploma or certificate route, she says.

"There is quite a lot on offer," says Kelleher. "I would assume that the students have taken up the diploma and certificate offers that they have got." She believes that validation of PLC courses by the National Council for Education Awards has helped matters also. This formalistion of the PLC sector has helped students, who must now sit an exam to achieve their NCVA award, to realise that they "can go into the labour/job market or take the diploma/certificate route". The validation system is "definitely more appealing to the students, and to parents and employers".

Despite this change in attitudes, some students are bound to be disappointed again this year. As Kelleher points out, getting places is "a matter of competition and we haven't got enough places". Those who repeat, she says, do so because they are disappointed and because they had some course in mind which they didn't get.

Sometimes students fail to get a college place, she says, because "they have insufficient research done. I would say to the students when they are filling out their CAO forms that they should put down what they really want and it should be thoroughly researched."

Kelleher advises a mature approach. When offers come through they should not turn anything down "until they know fully what they are turning down. If they have been offered something they should think about it very seriously."

The COST of repeating must be taken into consideration. Fees in private colleges can be as high as £2,000 in comparison to State-funded colleges which tend to charge the fees set by the Department of Education - about £225 - and possibly a small fee for photocopying, registration or other extras.

For those who decide to repeat, a decision must now be made as to where to repeat. The advantage of staying in your own school is that you know the teachers and the set-up. The samenesss may, however, be a little trying.

Vivian Cassells, guidance counsellor with Oatlands College, Mount Merrion, Dublin, says that on the other hand "if you go somewhere which specialises in repeat Leaving Certs, everybody is in the same boat and trying to do better". Cassells feels that taking up a new subject can be "quite a difficult decision. There is a lot of work involved in taking a two-year course in one year . . . on the plus side, however, a new subject can give students a fresh impetus." Apart from the extra points which should result from repeating, students often gain in other areas. The extra year gives them more time to mature. They may become happier with themselves and more focussed. "It can be very good for them," says Kelleher. Finally she urges students to be optimistic and hopeful no matter what the outcome.