More than 70,000 students to receive Junior Cycle results

More than 70,000 students are receiving their Junior Cycle examination results today.

Schools were able to access the results via an online portal from 9am and they could then be passed on to students.

The State Examinations Commission (SEC) said 72,828 people are receiving their results, which is a 3% increase on last year’s figures.

Results are also being issued a week earlier than last year.

The SEC said an increase in the number of teachers marking the examinations and the use of online marking in almost all Junior Cycle subjects has seen the results issue date return to a "more normal timeframe".

The results will also be available online from 4pm.

Junior Cycle exams were cancelled for most students in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid pandemic and were replaced by school-based assessments, with only adult learners and early school leavers sitting an exam in those years.

Meanwhile, appeals operate differently than the Leaving Certificate process and applications can only be made through the School Authority by 15 October.

The Teachers' Union of Ireland has congratulated students receiving their results and said it also wanted to draw attention to the "excellent performance" by Irish students in the international assessment rankings.

"The latest international PISA findings of 15-year-old Irish students show that the scores across the three areas which were examined - Mathematics, Science and Reading - were all rated as being 'statistically significantly' above the OECD average", it said.