Junior Cycle results 2026 are being issued today to students across Drogheda, Louth and Meath, alongside 73,879 candidates nationally.
The State Examinations Commission has congratulated this year’s candidates, with 651,123 grades being issued across 21 subjects.
It is the fourth consecutive year in which more than 70,000 candidates have taken the Junior Cycle examinations or their predecessors, with this year’s total slightly higher than the 73,336 candidates recorded in 2025.
Schools issuing results
From this morning, schools can access results digitally through the State Examinations Commission’s Schools Portal.
Schools will print Statements of Provisional Results and arrange for these to be provided to students, with the timing of distribution decided by individual school authorities.
Schools are also expected to provide support and advice to students as they receive their results.
More than 636,000 results, around 98% of the total, were either fully or partially marked through the SEC’s online marking system.
Revised grade bands
The Junior Cycle results 2026 also mark the first year the revised grade bands have been incorporated directly into the normal standard-setting process.
The revised system retains the same number of grade bands, with the top four descriptors, Distinction, Higher Merit, Merit and Achieved, each covering 15 percentage points.
The changes were introduced following consideration by the Department of Education and Youth, the SEC and the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment of feedback around the impact of the previous grade bands on teaching and learning.
In 2025, the revised bands were applied through a technical adjustment after marking. For the 2026 examinations, they were built directly into the standard-setting process.
Irish, English and Mathematics continue to be examined at Higher and Ordinary level, while other Junior Cycle subjects are examined at Common level.
| Grade Descriptor | Revised Grade Band (2025) | Previous Grade Band (2017 -2024) |
| Distinction | ≥ 85 to 100 | ≥ 90 to 100 |
| Higher Merit | ≥ 70 and < 85 | ≥75 and < 90 |
| Merit | ≥ 55 and < 70 | ≥ 55 and < 75 |
| Achieved | ≥ 40 and < 55 | ≥ 40 and < 55 |
| Partially Achieved | ≥ 20 and < 40 | ≥ 20 and < 40 |
| Not Graded | ≥ 0 and < 20 | ≥ 0 and < 20 |
How Junior Cycle appeals work
Applications for a review of Junior Cycle results operate differently to the Leaving Certificate appeals process.
Students and parents cannot apply directly to the State Examinations Commission.
Any appeal must be made through the student’s school, and the school authority must consider that the examination result achieved is significantly different from what had been expected.
Schools have until the 14th of October to submit applications.
A fee of €32 per subject applies and is refunded if the appeal results in an upgrade.
The SEC says schools have been provided with details of the process alongside this year’s results. The appeals application process is also moving online this year.
Appeal applications cannot be submitted directly by candidates, parents or individual teachers.
Junior Cycle Profile of Achievement
The Statement of Provisional Results students receive today does not represent the full record of their Junior Cycle achievements.
The Junior Cycle reporting process culminates in the Junior Cycle Profile of Achievement, or JCPA, which records achievement across the broader Junior Cycle programme.
This includes SEC examination results alongside Classroom-Based Assessments, Short Courses, Priority Learning Units and other areas of learning.
The JCPA replaced the old Junior Certificate, meaning the SEC no longer issues a separate Junior Certificate to candidates.
The 2026 JCPA will be issued later in the year through the Department of Education and Youth, with further information on the arrangements to be provided to schools.
Fifth year under reformed Junior Cycle
The 2026 class is the fifth group of students to sit Junior Cycle examinations across the full reformed curriculum.
Junior Cycle examinations were cancelled for most students in 2020 and 2021 because of the Covid-19 pandemic and replaced by school-based assessment.
Adjusted assessment arrangements remained in place for the 2026 certificate examinations to take account of disruption to learning experienced during the pandemic.
No separate figures for Louth, Meath or individual schools have been provided in the SEC release.
