A record number of students received their Junior Cycle exam results

With a 5% increase from 2022, 70,727 students received Junior Cycle exam results this year.

This marks the first time that the number of candidates taking the exams has exceeded 70,000.

This is the second year that students have sat exams under the fully reformed Junior Cycle curriculum. Following students being unable to sit exams in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic.

Assessment procedures were adjusted again to take the disrupted learning into account that took place over the course of the pandemic. These adjustments included changes to the timing and requirements of practical or coursework components.

Online marking is now used almost in all subjects hence year's results were delivered five weeks earlier than last year's when students had to wait till November to receive their results.

Schools will be using both the exam results that students receive today and outcomes from Classroom-Based Assessments to create a Junior Cycle Profile of Achievement (JCPA) award for each student.

Leo Varadkar told the Dáil that it was "a great day for a lot of young people" as he joined Labour Party leader Ivana Bacik in the congratulations she offered to the children.

He added that the "education budget for 2024 is the highest budget ever and that needs to be acknowledged".

Ms Bacik noted that cuts to the Budget would have a negative impact on education expressing a "particular concern for disadvantaged schools".