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There was absolute uproar when Luas drivers announced the dates of their June strikes yesterday.

Commuters going to and from work have probably gotten used to the, ahem… inconvenience, but what Luas drivers didn't realise was that their industrial action clashes with the first three days on the State Examinations.

However, after being formally notified, the strikes on June 8, 9 and 10 will now take place between 6pm and 10pm.

The move comes as a major relief to students, parents and teachers who were concerned about the added amount of pressure that the strikes would induce on the students.

And just to remember, there's a strike on tomorrow, so be prepared to find an alternative route to your destination.

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If you're sitting your Leaving Cert next month, don't forget that as of midday today you will be able to make a change to the choices you made on your CAO form last February.

After sitting your mocks and preparing for your orals, you may have had a change of heart when it comes to your career choices, and now is the time to take another look!

The Change of Mind period begins today and will remain open until July 1st, so don't panic if you're still uncertain as you even have some time following the exams to reconsider your original career path.

Commenting on the facility, Betty McLoughlin is President of the Irish Institute of Guidance Counselors said: "They might say 'I need to put in a plan B… I'm not going to get the points that I thought'. So they might put in a back-road into the course that they want."

Speaking to Newstalk Breakfast, she continued: "That's perfectly normal, and it's great that that facility is available. You have a window of opportunity for about ten days when they have completed their Leaving Cert."

Find out more about the facility right here!

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Today we heard that Politics and Society will be introduced to the Leaving Cert syllabus next year.

The subject will taught at 25 schools around the country from September 2016, according to The Irish Times. Students will be learning about power and decision making on a local and global scale. 

Interesting? Possibly. However, this news gave us serious flashbacks to the night before the dreaded exams and the pressure of trying to remember all of the exact details involving in ox bow lake formation.

Then we realised that there are some subjects that maybe should have been included in the syllabus long ago. 

1. How on earth you should tackle doing 'the big shop': 

The aisles are packed with tasty snacks! What's the difference between shallots and red onions? Where do we find the good quality beef? People have questions.

2. How to survive your first real job: 

Are casual Fridays an urban legend or no?

3. How to handle a break-up like a damn adult: 

A practical exam that tests your ability to not send a regrettable text at 4 in the morning. 

4. The fine art of entertaining: 

House parties are fantastic. However, sometimes people actually expect a sit-down meal, at a real table, madness. 

5. How to find a place to live: 

College accommodation won't be there forever, and Sex And The City gave us unrealistic expectations about city living.

6. How to adopt a somewhat healthy lifestyle: 

Red Bull and Pot Noodles will only get us so far. 

7. Time Management: 

Falling asleep at your desk is very much frowned up in the land of the adults. So it would be best to know when it is not a good time to stay up until the crack of dawn watching Netflix.

How to be responsible on social media: 

For that moment when you're 57 weeks into your ex-boyfriend's brother's housemate's cousin's BFFs Instagram account. Oops.

 

 

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For 17- or 18-year-olds who have recently polished off their Leaving Certificates and are on the cusp of travel, college, or a first job, it evidently remains a seriously big deal. 

The Debs: still a rite-of-passage for tens of thousands of young Irish people – it furthermore is an incredibly expensive event. 

Indeed, some young women are parting with an astonishing €1,115 to ensure that they are picture-perfect on the evening in question. 

Yes, the inaugural SHEmazing! Debs survey is now out – and it reveals an awful lot about the spending habits of the average debutante in this country.

We spoke to more than 900 hundred gals, and while a four-figure sum may at first seem excessive, spiralling costs quickly add up.

For example, party-goers spend an average of €132 on a pair of tickets… which goes some way to explaining why more than a quarter of attendees snub a date, opting to enjoy the night with friends instead.

Furthermore, young women spend €367 finding the perfect dress, shoes and accessories, and an additional €261 on hair, make-up and beauty treatments.

More than half will also start their preparations a full THREE months before the Big Day – investing in an array of beauty treatments that would make an Oscar nominee proud. 

And while most of us end up having a brilliant night, obviously with so much pressure and expectation riding on a single event, things can go wrong too: drinking too much, arguing with friends and the eventual choice of outfit all feature among debutante regrets.

"Although the Debs is a once in a lifetime event, it is shocking to think school-leavers are spending so much preparing for just one night," Susan Vickers, SHEmazing! spokesgirl, said in response.

She furthermore stated: “Our SHEmazing! girls tell us they are feeling under huge pressure to emulate the kind of red carpet looks they see their celebrity idols pull off so easily."

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The new points scale for Leaving Cert students, which will directly affect any incoming fifth year students.

This is the first significant change to the state examinations in almost twenty years. Minister for Education Jan O’Sullivan outlined the plans to change the grading of the Leaving Cert today.

Speaking about the changes she said:

“The new scale has been designed to minimise random selection for third level entry, which can be a source of huge frustration for students and their families.

It will also reward students who aim higher, both where they take the risk of sitting a higher level paper and for succeeding in those papers to a high standard.”

The changes will include a reduction in the number of possible grades to be awarded to students from 14 to 8.

Instead of the current A1 to NG scale, from 2017 onwards, students will be eligible to receive a grade of H1 to H7 for Higher level papers with Ordinary level papers going from O1 to O7.

Students who take on Higher levels subjects and earn more than 30 to 39 per cent in the exam. At the moment those percentages qualify as a failing grade, but the new changes will mean students could still earn CAO points with such a grade.  

Those who choose to take on Higher level Maths papers will also be able to earn extra points.

The new system will come into effect from the state exams due to take place in 2017. The new grading scale is hoped to help in alleviating some of the pressure many students face in their final years of secondary school.

 

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For the second year in a row, the all-girls Coláiste Laurel Hill in Limerick has been named as the best school in the country.

Everyone single one of its students have progressed on to third-level institutions in the last three academic years: 92.4 percent of those places have been at universities.

The Sunday Times' Schools Guide also declares Coláiste Na Coiribe in Galway as Ireland's best mixed schoolwhile Presentation Brothers College in Mardyke, Cork, is the best performing boys school.

Kate Butler says in today's edition: "Munster has generally being doing extremely well," also highlighting that even though it only has half the population of Leinster, Munster has almost as many schools listed in the Top 100.

Coláiste Laurel Hill is a non-fee paying school, but Dublin private schools are well-represented too: Gonzaga, Alexandra College, and Mount Anville all feature.

Furthermore, Limerick's famed Glenstal Abbey, which charges €18,000 a year for boarders and close-to €11,000 annually for day-pupils, appears.

The Ten Top rated schools are listed below, with last year's position in brackets:

  1. (1) Laurel Hill Colaiste FCJ, Sth Circular Rd, Limerick. Girls.
  2. (7) Presentation Brothers College, Mardyke, Cork. Boys.
  3. (9) Scoil Mhuire, Sidney Place, Cork. Girls.
  4. (3) Colaiste Iosagain, Blackrock, Co Dublin. Girls.
  5. (4) Gonzaga College, Ranelagh, Dublin 6. Boys.
  6. (6) Alexandra College, Milltown, Dublin 6. Girls. 
  7. (2) Glenstal Abbey School, Murroe, Co Limerick. Boys.
  8. (5) Mount Anville Secondary School, Dublin 14. Girls.
  9. (8) Colaiste na Coiribe, Tuam Road, Galway. Mixed.
  10. (22) Jesus & Mary Secondary School, Salthill, Galway. Girls.
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Students all over the country received their Leaving Cert results this morning, the culmination of 14 long years of schooling.

The dreaded LC is still imprinted on the memory of every former student as one of THE most stressful and bizarre life events there is. Twitter has been awash with messages of good luck, commiseration and celebration all morning, with Irish celebs joining in the banter too.

Here are some of our favourite tweets so far:

1. The Kodaline lads kept it simple… 

 

2. Eleanor Tiernan had these 'reassuring' words… 

 

3.  Whatever the result, you can wave bye-bye to (generally) useless information about rock formation – hurrah!

 

4. Ian Dempsey is very *down with the kids* 

 

5. Words of wisdom from Chris Greene 

 

6. Aw, you're making us all weepy, Síle Seoige 

 

7. Trust Dustin to bring the tone down… 

 

8. Ronan O'Gara is onto you. He has you sussed.

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With a little over a month to go until the first round of CAO offers become available, let’s take a look at the direction that the courses appear to be heading in.

With the analysis of the 2015 CAO applications already well underway, the first assumption is that the points for law and engineering are on the rise.

When the first round of offers come out on August 17th, students should expect engineering, technology, law, architecture and other construction-related courses to have risen from last year.

According to The Irish Times, the points for arts, science, social science and primary teaching are most likely going to stay at a similar level to 2014.

As the points for medicine dropped in 2014 because of the reconfiguration of the marking scheme for the Hpat test, there has been a small increase in the number of applications to the field this year. This could result in a small points increase this year. 

With the economy looking more stable, construction-related courses are not the only degrees gaining popularity again. Business courses remain prominent with applications up 2.3 percent on last year.

This could mean a 5-10 point increase for the most sought after business courses.

A huge drop has been seen in the number of applications for agriculture and horticulture courses. The number of students choosing them as their first-choice options are down by 19 percent from last year. 

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On Tuesday at around lunchtime local time in California (it was past 9pm in Ireland) police authorities named the six young people who were killed in Berkeley: Ashley Donohoe, 22; Olivia Burke, 21; Eoghan Culligan, 21; Nick Schuster, 21; Lorcan Miller, 21, and Eimear Walsh, 21.

They died – four of them by the time emergency services arrived – when the fourth-floor balcony they were standing on collapsed and came crashing down onto the street below.

It is believed that at least seven more J1 students currently remain in hospital suffering from injuries, some of which have been described as “serious or life-threatening”.

The six dead, who would have only arrived in the US in recent weeks, were an exceptionally talented and ambitious group of young people.

Their Irish families are all already en route to California, with most arriving in the late hours of Tuesday and early hours of Wednesday.

 

Olivia Burke, 21

A former pupil of Loretto Foxrock in Dublin 18, Olivia went on to attend IADT Dun Laoghaire. There, she was studying for a degree in business, entrepreneurship and management, and had just finished her third year exams. As part of her course, she had also recently completed a five-month work-experience stint with East Coast FM. Extremely popular and well-liked by her wide circle of friends, she lived with her family in south county Dublin. A fan of TV shows such as Glee and The X Factor, Olivia furthermore enjoyed keeping fit.

 

Eoghan Culligan, 21

Eoghan was studying at DIT. A native of Rathfarnham, he attended St Mary's College in Rathmines and sat his Leaving Cert in 2012. Throughout his school years, Eoghan was a keen rugby player, but GAA was his first love. He was a member of his local club, the well-known St Enda's in Ballyboden, since childhood. He had two brothers, Stephen and Andrew. Eoghan also loved travel, and had been abroad several times since beginning his third-level education. Indeed, just a few months ago, he was in south-east Asia on a trip.

 

Nick Schuster, 21

A classmate of Eoghan's at St Mary's, Nick was sports-mad, and had frequented the popular Pappy's Grill & Sports Bar on Telegraph Ave in the days before his death. Counting rugby, GAA and horse-racing among his interests – he loved Bayern Munich in particular: following the completion of his Leaving Certificate, he even visited the football club to meet his heroes. Studying at UCD prior to his death, he hailed from Terenure in Dublin 6 and his family run the popular Saba Thai restaurant in the capital's city centre.

 

Eimear Walsh, 21

Eimear was immensely bright and popular and had, like Olivia, attended Loretto Foxrock. Due to graduate in 2018, she was studying medicine at University College Dublin. She had one older brother, and lived at home with her parents in Dublin. Her mother, Patricia, originally hails from Westport in Co. Mayo. Earlier this year, Foxrock-native Eimear went on a UCD-organised ski-trip to the French Alpian region of Les Deux Alps.

 

Lorcan Miller, 21

Lorcan was also studying medicine at UCD, and was a former pupil at St Andrew's College in Booterstown. He was a member of the school's Junior Cup-winning hockey team in 2012 and was involved in the Bray Hockey Club. Following his Leaving Cert, he went inter-railing around Europe with his school-friends. Lorcan, who lived in Shankhill, also participated in several charity events during his time in university, raising funds for the likes of cancer research. 

 

Ashley Donohoe, 22

Ashley was the only member of the group who didn't grow up in Ireland. A native of Rohnert Park in California, she nevertheless held dual Irish and American citizenship. Olivia Burke, who also died in the accident, was her first cousin. Something of an adventurer, Ashley had been sky-diving and bungee-jumping. She was attending the Sonoma State University, where she was studying biology, and hoped to peruse a career in the health industry upon graduation. 

 

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The dreaded Leaving Cert kicked off yesterday, with thousands of Irish students sweating as they sat down to that pink exam paper for the first time.

There's nothing quite like the sheer hell and stress of facing a week or more of state exams, and while it definitely won't be the best time of your life, we guarantee you will never forget it. Ever.

Here are a few feelings every LC student is bound to experience over the next while…

1. Smugness at home because you're mam's favourite this week
"Is there anything else you need, love?" Ah, music to your ears.

 

2. Ice cold fear that you'll forget everything you know as soon as you open the paper
So many formulas. So many diagrams. So many quotes. One tiny brain.

 

3. Hope that the stuff you have learnt will actually come up, for God's sake
John Montague, you beaut.

 

4. A mix of revulsion and awe when the person next to you asks for more pages
Have they really used them all already? Show off. *cries*

 

5. Suspicion when someone leaves the exam early
Are they really quick or did they just not know anything? 

 

6. Sheer terror when you hear the "beeeep" at the start of the Irish Aural
No one can save us now.

 

7. The stress of people analysing every question after the exam
They already KNOW they got the right answer or they wouldn't be asking. 

 

8. Feeling like a total badass when you manage to cram your learned-by-heart script into one of the essay questions
Take that, Irish language.

 

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The first day of the Leaving Cert is stressful enough, but throw in missing the bus before the first exam and it’s literally your worst nightmare come true.

Luckily for 17-year-old Ian Fitzhenry, when this happened, he managed to make his way out of the sticky situation in some serious style.

The Limerick student flagged down a taxi when he realised that his bus wasn’t coming just 15 minutes before the exam.

At 9.15am, the taxi wasn’t much help as the cab driver found himself stuck in morning traffic. We can only imagine the panic Ian must have been feeling.

But what the taxi driver did next is brilliant. He pulled over a Garda car that he noticed was behind them and explained the situation.

According to Limerick’s Live 95FM, “the Gardai agreed to escort the cab right through to the city centre school. The lucky student arrived just three minutes before his Leaving Cert English paper one started.”

A big shout out has to go to the taxi driver and the Gardai for getting Ian there on time. What a great ending.

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We all remember that fateful day we got the dreaded Leaving Cert results. The tension, the panic, the relief (hopefully). Here are some memories we all have that day, and some words of wisdom for those getting results today:

1. 'Did you hear there’s gonna be news cameras at the school?!’
There might be a couple of journalists trying to get a few snaps of people hugging and crying. Tell them you got 90 points but you’re hoping for second round medicine.

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2. ‘So … were you happy with your results?"
This is the polite way of saying ‘What did you get?’ Eh…feck off?

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3. ‘Did you hear Sarah’s parents aren’t letting her go out cuz she was 10 points off medicine?’
Rumours will be rampant. Leave people and their points alone.

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4. ‘The institute is actually gonna be graaand next year, loads of people I know are repeating’
Whatever happens, there will be literally hundreds of people who are in the same boat as you. It’s never as bad as it might first appear.

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5. ‘Ok no,no, no, Aoife lost her ticket for tonight, will I get my Mum to call yer man?’
Aoife, don’t worry. You will get in.

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6. ‘Ok, Mark left his ID on the bus so we have to do a passback’
Or you could get your Mum to bring you up to the bouncer? I’m sure she wouldn’t mind.

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7. ‘Here, Katie’s not gonna get past the bouncers in that state and to be honest, I’m not waiting outside for her. It’s my results night too.’
Ah, the loyalty test. If someone hasn’t taken the advice of #5, older siblings are always a good shout to call. Until you get through to someone though, don’t leave anyone alone.

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8. ‘Luke spilt Jager on my dress, I’ve been planning this for months, what the HELL!’
Calm yourself. Soda water.

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9. ‘Oh my God this is like the last time we’ll ever be out together’
No it is simply not. It’s Ireland. You will literally see these people all the time.

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10. ‘FIGHT!’
Keep clear of any fight and try and stay out of them. Inevitable on a night filled with so much emotion but leave it to the bouncers.

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