Significant increase in number intending to sit Leaving Cert, data shows
April 28, 2025
Original Article: https://www.rte.ie/news/2025/0322/1503393-leaving-cert-increase/
There has been a significant increase in the number of students intending to sit Leaving Certificate exams this year, data from the State Examinations Commission shows.
The data shows that by early March, 61,726 had registered to be examined in the Leaving Certificate Established programme.
This represents a 5.2% increase on the number of registrations at the same time last year.
An additional 4,517 have registered for Leaving Certificate Applied exams, which also represents an increase on last year's figure.
The rise in registrations reflects demographic growth among the teenage population in the State.
It is 25 years since the number of students sitting Leaving Certificate examinations last exceeded 60,000.
The State Examinations Commission (SEC) has stressed that these figures are provisional.
"There continues to be ongoing engagement between schools and the SEC to ensure that the SEC has accurate, up-to-date information for the 2025 Leaving Certificate," it said.
The increase tallies with a significant rise in the number of CAO applicants this year and it goes a large way towards explaining that rise.
Last month, it emerged that applications for third-level courses for the coming year had increased by 8.5%.
When compared to figures from last year, the ratio between Leaving Certificate registrations and initial CAO applicants is broadly comparable.