None of the traditional events are currently taking place in bars and nightclubs around the country as many remain shuttered due to the pandemic.
Students were urged to celebrate their results safely over the coming days, as An Garda Síochána tweeted their congratulations.
Congratulations to the Leaving Cert students of 2020! In these strange times you have shown resilience throughout. If you are celebrating tonight, please remember government guidelines. Limit your contacts and act responsibly. #LeavingCert2020 pic.twitter.com/OrgF7mssy8
— Garda Info (@gardainfo) September 7, 2020
“If you are celebrating tonight, please remember government guidelines. Limit your contacts and act responsibly,” the gardaí tweeted.
It comes as the class of 2020 achieved record results in the first ever calculated grading system which replaced cancelled exams.
60,000 pupils received their marks at 9am this morning, with grades up an average of 4.4 percentage points on last year across all subjects and levels.
However, students are forgoing traditional large gatherings tonight, with students of Dominican College in Dublin 9 saying this year’s celebration will be subdued.
We’re just going out for dinner, me and a few of my friends, and then I guess we’ll just go home afterwards, because we only have an hour and 45 minutes in the restaurant.
“We can’t go out or anything, I’m just meeting some of the girls who are in my class. There’s not much that we can do but it’s nice that we can celebrate with a few people even, because before we wouldn’t have been able to celebrate with anybody,” student Roisin Culligan said.
“Same, we’re just going out for dinner, me and a few of my friends, and then I guess we’ll just go home afterwards, because we only have an hour and 45 minutes in the restaurant,” student Fiona Isdelle added.
Minister for Education Norma Foley said most students were happy with the grades awarded to them: “In the main I think students are very, very happy and indeed are very, very pleased at how the system has worked.
“You know it was, as I’ve said earlier, an extraordinary time, and I think for the students today to achieve a Leaving Certificate in the midst of a pandemic has been, you know, a phenomenal success.”
First round CAO offers will be issued on Friday while students will be able to appeal their grades a week from today.
