Over three thousand six hundred pupils at schools in the North West are among those getting their Junior Cert results this morning.
Over 2400 students in county Donegal, over 700 in county Sligo and 480 pupils in county Leitrim sat the exams.
The overall numbers nationally increased by 2.3% on last year.
There are slight changes to the marking of the English paper this year as part of the Junior Cycle reform where students will receive a distinction or merit as opposed to an A or B in other subjects.
IBEC says the reforms – which focus on continual assessment – also need to be rolled out at Leaving Cert level, if Ireland’s workforce is to stay competitive.
The business lobby group which says exam-only assessment is out of date.
Tony Donohoe is IBEC’s head of Education policy:
