Students ‘over the moon’

Students all over County Cavan and nationwide are receiving their first round CAO offers for university and college places this week following the receipt of their Leaving Cert results last Friday.

Over 900 Leaving Certificate students around the county were on a high last week having received the results of their State examinations. A large number of students in Cavan achieved the maximum points possible - 625.

One young man who is particularly delighted is Callum Kelly from St Patrick’s College, Cavan, who attained an incredible eight H1s in English, Irish, Maths, History, Music, Chemistry, German and Economics.

Callum studied German outside of school.

“I wanted to pick German in Fifth Year and, the way the subjects worked out in Fifth Year, I didn’t get it, but I really really wanted to do it,” he told theCelt.

The Killygarry lad couldn’t believe his eyes when he opened his results to find the list of H1s in front of him.

“It felt like a bit of a joke because I opened them about 15 minutes earlier than the time given and I wasn’t meant to get them then. I was putting in all my details getting it ready and then the results came in. I wasn’t convinced they were real. I waited until 10 o’clock and refreshed the page because I thought they weren’t my real results.

“Once I was sure they were real, it was fantastic. I’ve never been happier, I was over the moon.”

Callum hopes to study Science in UCD: “I was hoping to get high results but I wouldn’t have even dared to hope for this kind of result. My course is 566 so as long as I got over that I would have been thrilled. But I never would have even thought of getting this.”

His parents, Deirdre and Jim were also stunned by the results he received.

“My parents were so happy, they weren’t expecting it either, Mam definitely cried a bit. My grandparents called me straight away and they couldn’t have been happier.”

Loreto College student, Lenka Voskarova, was also delighted to receive full marks in her Leaving Cert on Friday. She believes the top marks were easier to achieve this year thanks to the new grading system.

“I thought it was very manageable this year because of all the adjustments that we had so that was a big part of it I think. I did English, Irish, Maths, Geography, German, Business, Biology and I also did Slovakian as a third language because I’m originally Slovakian.”

Aoife Sheridan, Chloe Gilcreest, Ciara McMillan and Ornagh Cox from Loreto College also received the maximum 625 points on Friday, as well as Dónal McSorley, another student from St Patrick’s College.

Principal of St Patrick’s College, Christopher Rowley, described the results all round as “excellent” and wished all students well for the future.

“We had an exceptional Leaving Cert class who worked really hard over the two lockdown periods and all the challenges thrown at them in recent years. We are delighted that they have been rewarded for their hard work,” he said.

However, the principal was keen to remind students that, although the results may seem extremely important, there are many other routes that can bring a student to their chosen career.

“The wait for the CAO offers is another source of anxiety, as is the lack of accommodation for the students going to third level for the first time. CAO points are a national obsession, but students should not allow themselves to be shaped by Thursday’s offers. There are many routes through third level and further education and many places to seek advice, starting with your own school. They should ensure they seek advice. We wish them all the very best in the next phase of their life.”