More than 2,500 students will start their delayed Leaving Cert exams this evening.
Biology is the first subject - with the exam starting at 5.30pm.
They are scheduled to take place on evenings and weekends until December 11th.
Guidance counsellor Donnchadh O'Mahoney from Loreto College in Dublin says most are already taking college courses: “Some students that are sitting these exams, actually the majority of them would have been offered college places this year, and they would have started college places.
“The reason they are going back to sit these exams is they probably want a college place further up on their CAO list which they really wanted.
“They probably have started studying this year, but they said 'I will take this exam and if I do better and get offered another offer next year brilliant, if I don't then nothing lost and nothing gained'”.
Calculated grades
As the Irish Times reports, some 2,569 students have decided to still sit the traditional written exams, which will run until December 11th. This includes many who may have been disappointed with the calculated grades they were awarded in certain subjects.
Some 879 students are taking the written exam in just one subject, with 630 taking two subjects, and 449 students sitting exams in three subjects.
Eighty-eight students are sitting the written exams in seven subjects, with 24 students taking exams in eight or more subjects, according to the State Examinations Commision.
About 200 students who were unable to receive calculated grades for certain subjects they studied outside of school are included in the cohort sitting the written examinations. Some adult learners who chose not to receive calculated grades are also among those taking the exams.
The State examinations will take place across 574 locations, primarily in classrooms due to the small numbers involved. Sixty adult learners and early school leavers will also sit the Junior Certificate exams from Monday.
Biology is the most popular subject students have opted to sit the written exam in, with 1,003 students taking this exam. This is followed by Mathematics (984), English (561), Chemistry (537) and Irish (427).
