The Education Minister says students receiving their Junior Cert results today should feel a major sense of achievement.

A record 71-thousand students are either opening the envelope or checking online to see how June's exams went.

However, with the new Junior Cycle, work completed throughout the course of the year is also taken into account.

Midwest News visited St. Mary's secondary school in Ballina earlier today and witnessed the results been handed out to the students.

It was particularly fitting as the results were handed out by the Deputy Principal Margaret Burke who is retiring on Friday week.

We spoke to Principal Robert O'Reilly just before the results were handed out.

These students spoke to Midwest News just after they opened their results.