CONFIRMATION OF ENTRIES ref Leaving Cert. 2026
The State Examinations Commission (SEC) as part of its digital strategy, introduced a facility to allow Leaving Certificate candidates to confirm their subject and level entry details online (including adding or withdrawing from subjects),
The use of the online system, the Candidate Self Service Portal (CSSP) will continue for the 2026 Leaving Certificate.
The portal will open Tuesday 21st of October 2025 for candidates to register and activate their account and confirm their subject entries and levels. It will remain open for this purpose until 5pm Friday 7th November 2025. Candidates will be given a further opportunity to amend subjects/levels in February 2026.
It is essential that they register through the Portal as this Portal will provide candidates with the opportunity to confirm their subject choice and levels, to also allow future access to their results and for the later stages of the process such as the appeals application process.
A copy of the Before You Start Guide 2026 is available , please click here.
Please click on the link below and register and follow instructions
Click here to login CSSP 2026
If after 2 hours you do not receive the Account Activation email you should contact the helpdesk - Phone 1800-111135 or 1800-111136. The helpdesk phonelines will be available between 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday from Tuesday 21 October to Friday 07 November 2025. Outside of these hours you can email candidateportal@examinations.ie.
***Leaving Certificate Applied Year 2 candidates will be required to Register in January/February 2026:
During this time Leaving Certificate (excluding Leaving Certificate Applied) candidates will be required to complete the following:
Step 1: Register and create their portal account
Step 2: Activate their account by selecting the link sent to the email that they registered on the portal
Step 3: Confirm their subject and level entry details and add or delete subjects from the records presented to them. If applicable, amend any inaccuracy in their name and/or date of birth.
Reviewing and Confirming Subjects and Levels.
The portal will be pre-populated with the data entered by schools through the PPOD October returns process (i.e. Names, Date of Births, Subjects & Levels). This means that only those subjects which candidates have been studying in schools will be displayed on the portal.
It is extremely important at this stage that schools engage with candidates regarding their selection of their level in each subject at this time. Candidates should be advised by their teachers to select the level at which they are currently studying each subject.
Candidates will be permitted to change levels in the written examinations on the day of the examination, as in previous years.
Candidates will have the opportunity to add any subjects that they are studying outside of school or to delete subjects if they are no longer intending to present for examinations in particular subjects.
It is extremely important that candidates take the time to ensure that their examination entries are correct on the portal before they submit. Once a candidate has confirmed their subjects and levels on the portal they will not be able to log back into the portal to update their data. Candidates will receive a confirmation email outlining the subjects and levels they are entered for. If a candidate notices an error on their confirmation email, they must contact the school in relation to the error.
Reviewing and Confirming Name and Date of Birth
If the pre-populated name and date of birth is incorrect, candidates will have an opportunity to update their record on the CSSP during the registration process. Once they have completed the registration process, they will not be able to log back in to update.
Role of Schools in Checking and Confirming the Information Updated by Candidates
When the candidate entry confirmation process on the CSSP has concluded, the SEC will provide schools with a report of the entries (Entries Report) for the candidates in the school for review and confirmation.
Access to the Portal
Leaving Certificate candidates will access the portal at www.examinations.ie from Tuesday 21 October at 2pm.
A CSSP Before You Start Guide 2026 will be provided which candidates should read before commencing the process. To access the portal, candidates will need the following:
• their examination number (The SEC provided these to schools the week of the 13 October 2025)
• Personal Identification Number (PIN). The PIN will be the first 4 digits of the candidate’s Personal Public Services Number (PPS number). In the event that a candidate does not have a PPS number or a PPS was not recorded a unique PIN will be created and issued to the school prior to the portal opening.
• an email address and mobile phone number to which the candidate will have regular access over the coming months.
Examination Fees 2026
Following the 2026 Budget announcements, the SEC has been advised that the temporary measures that applied for the past number of years, under which examination entry fees were waived, are not in place for 2026. Accordingly, examination entry fees will apply in 2026 at the same level as when they were last charged in 2019; that is €116 per entry for a Senior Cycle/Leaving Certificate candidate and €109 per entry for a Junior Cycle candidate. Full details of the fee collection arrangements will be notified to school authorities by the SEC in due course and the examination entry arrangements will proceed independently of the fee collection arrangements. It should be noted that the rate of examination fees which will apply for the 2026 examinations has not been increased since 2012. In line with the arrangements which applied when fees were last charged, candidates who
hold a full medical card, or who are covered for all services on a parent or guardian’s full medical card, are exempt from examination fees. You are asked at this stage to ensure that candidates and their families are made aware that fees will apply for entry to the 2026 State examinations and of the longstanding fee alleviation arrangements for full medical card holders or their dependents