Leaving Certificate
- What is the Leaving Certificate?
- Leaving Certificate exam 2025
- Leaving Certificate results 2025
- Leaving Certificate marking system and assessment
- Leaving Certificate exam fee
- Getting a copy of your old Leaving Certificate results
- What is changing in the Leaving Certificate?
- More information
What is the Leaving Certificate?
During the final 2 years of Senior Cycle, students take one of 3 programmes, each leading to a State examination.
These are the:
- Leaving Certificate Established
- Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme (LCVP)
- Leaving Certificate Applied (LCA)
Most Senior Cycle students choose the established Leaving Certificate programme. This 2-year programme covers a wide range of subjects (see ‘Leaving Certificate subjects and assessment’ below).
In general, students take 5 or more subjects (usually 7) for examination, one of which must be Irish. Subjects are normally studied at either Ordinary or Higher Level. Irish and Mathematics can be studied at Foundation Level. Foundation Level is geared to the needs of students who might have difficulty with subjects at Ordinary or Higher Level.
Leaving Certificate exam 2025
The Leaving Certificate 2025 written exams took place from Wednesday, 4 June 2025 to Tuesday, 24 June 2025. The State Examinations Commission (SEC) published the exam timetable (pdf) and more information for Leaving Certificate 2025.
Leaving Certificate 2025 results were released on 22 August 2025.
The oral exams for Irish and foreign languages (pdf) took place from Saturday, 12 April 2025 to Thursday, 17 April 2025.
The exams for music practical performance took place between Monday, 31 March 2025 and Friday, 11 April 2025.
Leaving Certificate results 2025
The Leaving Certificate 2025 exam results were released on Friday, 22 August 2025 at 10am. You could access your results on the Candidate Self Service Portal run by the State Examinations Commission (SEC).
You needed to register your account on the portal to be able to log in and see your results.
You can use the CAO points calculator to calculate your score based on your Leaving Certificate results.
Read about college entrance requirements and the key dates for 2025 CAO course offers.
Appealing your results
If you were not happy with your results, you could appeal your Leaving Certificate results online on the Candidate Self Service Portal from Sunday, 31 August 2025 at 10am. Applications to appeal online closed on Monday, 1 September 2025 at 5pm.
Leaving Certificate marking system and assessment
The Department of Education and Youth publishes syllabus and curriculum information. The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment provides a list of Leaving Certificate subjects.
You can read about the assessment arrangements for Junior Cycle and Leaving Certificate exams in 2025 (pdf). This sets out the adjusted assessment arrangements for students doing State exams in the 2024-2025 school year.
Marking system for examination grades
The examination scale has 8 grades. The highest grade is Grade 1 and the lowest grade is Grade 8.
The 8-point grading scale replaced the 14-point scale at both Higher and Ordinary levels in 2017.
Marks between 100% and 30% are divided into seven grade bands (1-7). Each band is 10% wide.
The scheme means that the Common Points Scale used by the CAO to determine entry into higher education institutions was also revised in 2017.
| New grades* | % Marks |
| H1/O1 | 90 - 100 |
| H2/O2 | 80 < 90 |
| H3/O3 | 70 < 80 |
| H4/O4 | 60 < 70 |
| H5/O5 | 50 < 60 |
| H6/O6 | 40 < 50 |
| H7/O7 | 30 <40 |
| H8/O8 | 0 < 30 |
*Grades at Higher level are prefixed with H. Grades at Ordinary level are prefixed with O.
Marking system (2015-16)
| Percentage Range | Grade |
| 90% or over | A1 |
| 85% but less than 90% | A2 |
| 80% but less than 85% | B1 |
| 75% but less than 80% | B2 |
| 70% but less than 75% | B3 |
| 65% but less than 70% | C1 |
| 60% but less than 65% | C2 |
| 55% but less than 60% | C3 |
| 50% but less than 55% | D1 |
| 45% but less than 50% | D2 |
| 40% but less than 45% | D3 |
| 25% but less than 40% | E |
| 10% but less than 25% | F |
| Less than 10% | No grade |
Leaving Certificate exam fee
There was no fee to sit the Leaving Certificate exams in 2025.
Mock exams
The State Examinations Commission is not responsible for mock exams. If your school is charging for mock exams, this is likely to cover the cost of the exam papers and/or getting them corrected externally.
Getting a copy of your old Leaving Certificate results
You may be asked for evidence that you have completed State examinations when you apply for a job or for further education. It is always useful to have a copy of your results as well as the original Certificate, especially if you plan to work or study outside Ireland.
The State Examinations Commission can give you a certified statement of your results.
What is changing in the Leaving Certificate?
The Senior Cycle and Leaving Certificate is changing. Existing subject curriculums are being revised, and new subjects are being introduced. These changes are being introduced on a phased basis, starting in September 2025.
Students sitting Leaving Certificate exams in June 2026 will not be affected by these changes.
If you’re starting fifth year in 2025
For students starting fifth year in 2025-2026, some Senior Cycle subjects are changing to include continuous assessment as part of the final Leaving Certificate examination.
These assessments are called Additional Assessment Components (AAC) and they can be worth at least 40% of the available marks in a subject. These won’t take the form of a written exam, but they involve completing things like research projects, experiments or practical investigations.
These assessments will be externally assessed by the State Examinations Commission (SEC).
Subjects with updated curriculums for fifth years starting in 2025-2026 are:
- Biology
- Physics
- Chemistry
- Business
- Arabic
- Ancient Greek
- Latin
The SEC has published example Leaving Certificate papers for the revised subjects. Examples of AAC briefs for subjects will be published on the SEC website in September 2025.
New Leaving Certificate subjects
A small selection of schools will have 2 new subjects available for fifth years in 2025-2026: Drama, Film and Theatre Studies, and Climate Action and Sustainable Development.
It is expected that more revised subjects will be introduced for 2026-2027.
Find out more about changes to the Senior Cycle and Leaving Certificate:
- On the Senior Cycle Redevelopment hub on Gov.ie
- On curriculumonline.ie, which has information on the syllabus for each subject in the Senior Cycle