Over 116,000 secondary school students begin their Junior and Leaving Cert exams today.

Almost 90 subjects will be examined over the coming weeks and according to the Minister for Education, Ruairi Quinn, this is the time for students to ‘show all they have learned over the last few years'.

However, he also acknowledged that this can be a stressful time for those undertaking exams. He urged all students to utilise the ‘excellent supports' offered by teachers, parents, families and friends.

Over 56,000 students are sitting the Leaving Cert and Leaving Cert Applied over the coming weeks and for the second year running, those sitting higher level maths can gain 25 bonus CAO points. As a result, an additional 4,000 students have opted for this.

Minister Quinn said that he was ‘delighted' with this and while students can change their minds about sitting the higher paper up until the time of the actual exam, he urged them ‘to have faith in their ability'.

The exams run until June 21.