A wide range of advice services is available for the 50,000 Leaving Cert students who will get their results tomorrow.
Last year, The Irish Timeshelpline received more calls than any other advice service.
This year, for the first time, an Irish Timespodcast - offering the best advice to students - will be online at ireland.com
The Irish Timesresults and offers advice line dealt with a broad spectrum of questions last year.
These included:
- What to do if you fail ordinary level maths;
- How to appeal your exam grades;
- How to calculate your number of CAO points from your Leaving Cert result;
- How the CAO offer process works;
- What happens if a student doesn't get the CAO offer they want;
- Questions about PLC and apprenticeship options.
The number of support options available reflects the fact that exam stress was among the top issues that the Samaritans dealt with last year. The organisation advised parents and students to be aware of and recognise the symptoms of exam stress.
These include: lack of sleep; loss of appetite or irregular eating; panic attacks and difficulty breathing; low energy and lack of concentration and a loss of interest in things around you.
If students are experiencing any of these symptoms or simply want some information about their options, they would be well advised to seek some help from the support options available.
What's available: guide to advice
Podcasts
For the first time, Irish Timescolumnist Brian Mooney offers advice to students in the form of podcasts that are free to download from www.ireland.com/education.
The podcasts take students through the options available to them - from what to do if you are unhappy with your results, to your CAO offers and what you should be doing next.
Irish Times Helpline
The Irish Timesresults and offers advice line and e-mail service are up and running again. Professional guidance counsellors from the Institute of Guidance Counsellors will be available to answer individual queries from 8am to 10pm on August 15th, 16th, 20th and 21st.
Call Freephone 1800 923 429 for the Results and Offers Advice Line. Callers from Northern Ireland or abroad can call on +353 1 675 8435 but standard charges will apply.
Alternatively you can e-mail advice@irish-times.ie
The Samaritans helpline and exam support website
The Samaritans have an exam support webpage that offers advice on stress, how to recognise it and what to do about it. See www.samaritans.org/ talk/exams/results.shtm for further details. Also available is the Samaritans helpline at 1850 609090.
Rehab's text service
Headsup is a free 24- hour and confidential text service provided by Rehab for young people who are going through any number of problems, including exam and results stress. In order to access the advice offered by this service, text Headsup to 50424.