By Eoghan McDermott of the Communications Clinic
Since the Leaving Cert results have come out my phone has been hopping with clients and their sons and daughters looking for advice on what to do now – particularly when they haven’t achieved the results they had hoped for. The first thing these worried parents have to do is calm down and wait. Wait until the CAO offers come out. If their sons and daughters have made wise secondary choices, they should be fine.
One query I received this morning was from a fella who has just failed Maths and is worried that his college prospects are gone down the swanny. If you’re in the same boat, again, calm down. Although obviously, Accountancy and Pure Mathematics are out of the question, that shouldn’t mean the end of the world.
The first things to figure out are do the college and the courses that you’ve chosen for your CAO application have Maths as a requirement? If they don’t, that’s great news as you’re safe provided you have the points and satisfy any other prerequisite for your chosen course.
If you have the points but need Maths then get your paper re-marked; call up and view it if you can; check the guidelines for script viewing and then ask for a recheck on the States Examinations Commission website.
On the other hand, if you don’t get an upgrade, namely that you still have failed Maths after the recheck, consider delaying for a year. You can travel or work and repeat Maths next summer as a single subject to satisfy the requirement.
However, don’t buy into this gloom and doom about the tragedy that has befallen you and the nation – you have other talents and capacities. Think positively – the work place or college always loves and requires hard workers, who are ready to be innovative, are up for a challenge and are great team players.
In any case, if we all passed Honours Maths with flying colours, the world would be a dull place. You will find most likely that an ability to deal fairly with people and think creatively in the workplace will be more important than having passed Maths in your future employment, no matter your results today.
Eoghan McDermott is Head of the Careers Clinic at the Communications Clinic www.communicationsclinic.ie
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