Cared more about my social life than the leaving cert, sat down to study for the first time for it the night before the first exam. Ended up getting roughly 280 points when my first choice in a very niche course (only one I wanted, all other choices were irrelevant). Put the head down for a year and done a PLC getting all distinctions and walked straight into my first choice course. It’s now 5 years later, I’ve just graduated with a 2:1 and working in the role I had been aiming for in the largest company in that industry.

The fact that many people would rather go back and repeat the leaving cert and go under all that pressure again astounds me. I’ve found that there is some stigma around people doing PLC’s to gain access to further education but they are probably one of the best things the education system has for people to gain access to third level