Many private colleges offer identical qualifications to public third-level institutions. Just do your research before taking the plunge

Ruth Campbell, from Mayo, got 600 points in her Leaving and expected her college place – but all did not go according to plan

Good news or wait-and-see: Our Leaving Cert diarists from Coláiste Chill Mhantáin in Co Wicklow get their results

Dylan Varian is a 19 year-old entrepreneur and blogger from Midleton in Cork. He is currently on his second year out from a course in software development in CIT.

Galway native Rebecca Donnellan wanted to do nursing, but then, at the last minute, she changed her mind and put biotechnology and French down on her CAO application instead.

19-year-old Laura Gaynor is going into her second year of cinema and TV production in IADT Dun Laoghaire. A native of Strandhill, Co Sligo, she is a filmmaker, vlogger and radio presenter.

Doing the Leaving once is hard enough, so those disappointed with their results should take advice and think about their goals and commitment before opting to repeat

It was good news for religion students, but applied maths presented a real challenge on the last day of exams.

Agricultural science challenging in parts; music an exam of two halves

A good final day for the few Junior Cert students who had to wait until the bitter end

A good range of questions that rewarded those who had really put the work in

Positive reactions to history while higher level French had a little sting in its tail

Predictions didn’t pan out, but students could adapt their knowledge to a fair and interesting paper

Challenging biology with topical questions, but examiners must do better with diagrams

A tougher paper with an occasional “stinker” of a question higher level Irish paper two

Hard work paid off for higher level Junior Cert business studies students while ordinary level questions were taxing in parts

Events overtook the CSPE paper while maths students were subject to a fair test