Minister for Education says that the Leaving Cert will take place July 29

He made the announcement yesterday.

There has been much uncertainty around whether or not State examinations would go ahead this year. As it stands the Junior Cert has been completely cancelled for 2020, but the same can not be said for the Leaving Cert which is required for students wishing to attend college. Yesterday evening the Minister for Education Joe McHugh confirmed that the exams will still take place and the Leaving Cert will be held on July 29. According to the Irish Times the minister that the examination timetable will be available to students undergoing the Leaving Cert on the first week of June. Some have wondered why the exams, which usually take place in early summer are being pushed back to the end of July, when there is talk of primary schools reopening. The decision to not have the Leaving Cert until July 29 could have serious knock on effects for students who had applied to colleges abroad as they will not get their results soon enough to complete their applications. There's already talk of over 4,000 Irish students who may not be able to take up places in British colleges because of the decision. The Minister has also said that the payment for the Leaving Cert exams has been extended but TD Aodhán Ó Ríordáin has called for the fee to be completely abolished given the current climate. Mr McHugh went on to say that he plans to put in place mental health services for students dealing with unprecedented amounts of stress right now. Irish schools have been closed since March and will remain closed until at least May 5 which is currently the end of the lock down period, although it could possibly be extended further. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said that he at least hopes to ease the restrictions in the coming weeks even if lock down cannot be completely lifted.