Kilcormac principal hails "exceptional" Leaving Cert group

The principal of Coláiste Naomh Cormac has described this year's Leaving Cert class as "a wonderful group of young people" who achieved exceptional results.

Victoria Guinan said more than a quarter of this year's Leaving Certs at the school achieved more than 500 points, with 8% receiving over 600 points, and 2% scoring the maximum of 625 points.

The results were issued online on Friday last, but Ms Guinan was heartened by the presence of the students at the school on the day.

"One of the nicest things about results day in Coláiste Naomh Cormac is that, even though students can access their results online, they still choose to come back into our school on the day itself," she said.

"They want to meet their teachers, share their news, and talk about what comes next. After six years together, these relationships really matter.

"I am particularly happy that the Leaving Certificate results date has been brought forward this year. From a school's perspective, we now once again have the opportunity to focus solely on our Leaving Cert students, celebrate their good news, and help them consider their options before the next stage of the process begins."

She said the school in Kilcormac outperformed the national average in terms of H1 grades achieved in 2026. Nationally, an average of 10.1% of students achieved H1s this year, but at Coláiste Naomh Cormac it was 16.1%.

"This is an exceptional achievement for our students, their families and the staff who have supported them throughout their time with us," Ms Guinan added.

"However this day is about far more than statistics. We are delighted to see students hoping to progress into areas such as medicine, architecture, psychology, teaching, science and engineering, while others are choosing apprenticeships, further education and different routes into employment.

"There is no single definition of success after the Leaving Cert as there are now so many different pathways available to our students.

"Whatever appears on the screen on results day, it will never capture all that these students have contributed to our school or all that they are capable of achieving in the years ahead," the school's principal concluded.