Junior Cycle results day represents significant milestone for young people – ASTI President

Date

Wednesday 8 October 2025

News type

ASTI news

ASTI President Padraig Curley has sent a message of congratulations to all the students receiving their Junior Cycle results today (October 8th).

“The Junior Cycle examination is an important step for students, giving them their first experience of a State examination. Today students will be provided with an independent and objective set of results in relation to their learning and efforts over the first three years of their second-level education. This is enormously valuable in helping young people develop an understanding of their own unique set of interests, talents and skills as they progress to Senior Cycle and the Leaving Cert. The Junior Cycle exam experience will help greatly in terms of your preparation for the Leaving Certificate exam situation itself. Well done on completing the Junior Cycle, your teachers are extremely proud of you today.”

The most recent OECD PISA report shows that 15-year-olds in Ireland rank first out of 37 OECD countries for reading literacy. Ireland ranks 7th out of 37 OECD countries for performance in maths, and is in 8th place for performance in science. Ireland is one of 10 countries highlighted in the PISA report for high levels of equity for students.

However, Ireland remains at the bottom of the league for investment in education. The OECD report Education at a Glance 2025 positioned Ireland in last place out of 37 countries for government expenditure on second-level education as a percentage of GDP.

“Retaining quality and equity for students, as well as the high level of trust that students, parents and the wider community have in the education and examination systems, is vital,” said Mr Curley. “More investment in education is crucial so that schools can tackle large class sizes and lack of resources for students. More efforts should be made to solve the teacher retention and recruitment crisis too as it is vital to have well qualified teachers in our schools helping our students achieve”.

ENDS

 

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