An A-grade student has taken the unusual step of selling Leaving Certificate notes, starting at €40 a pop, on the online auction site eBay.ie in order to help finance his third-level education.
Cillian Fahy, who attended Gort Community College in Co Galway and recently received his Leaving Certificate results, scooping seven A grades, has set his sights on attending Trinity College Dublin to study English, Literature, and Mathematics. In order to ease the burden of taking the big step into third-level this young student has come up with the novel idea of auctioning off his extensive notes, and some books, in six subjects.
The notes in Mathematics, English, Irish, music, French, and history were placed on eBay.ie, under the search Irish Leaving Certificate, last Monday and the auction is due to end just after midnight on August 31. Each item includes a wide variety of notes, most of which were meticulously drawn up by Cillian, and cover all aspects of each subject.
Speaking to the Advertiser, the 18-year-old from New Quay, said he had been toying with the idea of using the internet to sell his notes for some time and was surprised that no one had thought of doing it before, as websites such as eBay.ie are so widely used by teenagers across the country.
“Last September it was in the back of my mind and I had thought at first that it wasn’t fairly unique but so many people I spoke to told me it was. Now with the economy the way it is, students are finding financing college very tough.
“It was even hard to find a part-time job this summer, it was desperate. So, I think students need to be resourceful and clever in making money. I would be happy if what I have done encourages other students to do the same.
“I spent a lot of time analysing papers, organising and getting the notes in order, and they could be thrown away at the end of it. They could be of use to other students. It is recycling them in a way and hopefully others will be able to learn from my mistakes and not fall for the same traps.
“The starting price for each item is €40 and I would be happy with that.
“To think that grinds can cost up to €50 for an hour lesson. There are thousands of euros spent in this country on grind classes, it’s a massive industry, when the main advantage of these classes is simply the notes. My notes were the only ones I used and they got me an A grade in my subjects. The notes have been tried and tested and they do work,” he said.
