The union drew specific attention to the number of students taking construction studies and also the results of Project Maths.
Union President Bernie Ruane said:
“We congratulate all students on their hard work and achievements today. In the current climate, it is vital that every young person should at least reach this level of academic attainment. It must also be remembered that this cohort will have experienced cuts on their education provision over the last three years.

Students should consider the wide range of cutting-edge courses offered by Institutes of Technology and also the variety of Post Leaving Certificate (PLC) courses that are always remarkably responsive to local industrial needs.
In celebrating their results, students should avoid any behaviour that may ruin this special occasion for themselves and make sure that that everybody in their group arrives home safely.

It should be remembered in any debate around the uptake and results of certain subjects that any move to increase the pupil teacher ratio (PTR) in schools as part of the next Budget will inevitably put a further squeeze on the provision of subjects such as Maths and Physics at higher level in schools. With any further cut in teacher numbers, many schools may be forced to drop those subjects that only attract small numbers of students.
It should also be remembered that teachers are ready and willing to integrate positive change and revised syllabi but this must be appropriately resourced.

Construction studies
It is also worth noting that almost 9,000 students took Construction Studies this year. Clearly, our education and training strategy must continue to provide the options that allow for the training of tradespeople.

Project Maths
These results are encouraging and endorse the value of the programme, with a much lower proportion of E, F or NG grades. Meanwhile, the upper end shows that the top grades are not easily achieved in this innovative and challenging curriculum. The programme provides proof that teachers are willing to embrace positive change provided that it is appropriately resourced.”