Hosted by the National Parents’ Council Post Primary (NPCpp), the helpline will open on Wednesday, 16th August to offer advice, information and support to the 60,000 Leaving Certificate students receiving their exam results.

The 1800 265 165 Freephone Helpline opens from 10 a.m. on results day, Wednesday, 16th August, to take calls from students, parents and teachers seeking advice and information on what choices are available to students, and will continue until Wednesday, 23rd August (see Freephone operating hours below).

The Helpline is sponsored by the Irish Independent and eir and is supported by the Department of Education and Skills. It is staffed by members of the Institute of Guidance Counsellors who are fully qualified experts in their field.  A representative of the grant-awarding body, SUSI, will also be on hand to answer queries.

Every year the NPCpp Helpline deals with thousands of calls and helps students to make informed decisions. Those seeking advice, information or reassurance can contact the Helpline on 1800 265 165 and speak to experienced, professionally-trained guidance counsellors.  All queries on third level courses, such as the points system, rechecks, repeats, CAO procedures, apprenticeships and further training options will be dealt with in a professional and confidential manner.

To complement the Freephone Exam 2017 Helpline, Independent.ie will be running an interactive CAO blog on Wednesday August 16th from 10am and on Monday August 21st from 8am, Members of the IGC will also be staffing this, answering all queries and concerns around the results and further and higher education and career options. Live blog under the URL independent.ie/CAOlive.  Students/Parents will be able to submit their questions to the expert through email contact@independent.ie, Twitter with the hashtag #IndoCAO, through the live blog itself or through the Irish Independent official Facebook page.

The opening hours of FREEPHONE HELPLINE 2017 are:

Wednesday, 16th August:   10 a.m. – 7 p.m.

Thursday,    17th August:   10 a.m. – 7 p.m.

Friday,        18th August:   10 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Monday,      21st August:    8 a.m. – 7 p.m.

Tuesday,      22nd August:  8 a.m. – 7 p.m.

Wednesday, 23rd August:   8 a.m. – 1 p.m.