Leaving Certificate Construction Studies

Lorraine - Higher Level 

I have to say, I was feeling a little nervous about this exam. Even though the material on the paper each year is predictable in my opinion, I was still anxious enough going in. To be honest the exam is a little bit of a blur already.So I got the paper and quickly scanned through it to see what questions I would answer. Question 1 is compulsory so I got stuck into that first. The question was based on a porch where you had to draw the roof, window and lintel detail. Not the easiest of questions to start off with in my opinion but after some thought I made a good stab at it and was glad to have it out of the way.I then done the question on low environmental impact. I was absolutely delighted to see this question come up as I knew this really well. We were asked to chose 3 design features that ensures the house has a low environmental impact. Easy enough and nothing too difficult about that.I then moved on to the passive house question which was question 10. You had a choice between either part A or B. I chose part A as I felt I could answer this the best. It was about heat loss and storage gain in passive houses. I found this question ok and got through it in no time.U-values is a guaranteed question on the paper every year so I had prepared this really well. After practicing so many u-value questions, I wasn't overly happy with this question. I didn't find it as straight forward as other years but I'm confident that I gave it a good attempt and got a lot of the marks.The last question I done was based on a storeroom that was being converted into a home office. Handy enough question to be fair. We were asked to give 2 advantages and 2 disadvantages of the storeroom being converted into a home office. Again nothing too difficult and I feel this was one of my better questions.I must say I was really hoping that wheelchair accessibility would come up on the paper as I knew this chapter inside out and I was quite disappointed that it didn't. Oh well!Overall the paper was pretty doable and gave up no surprises which I was delighted about.Now for the long wait till my the last exam, Ag Science. 

Liam - Higher Level 

This was the day I was most looking forward to. I got up early, had some coco pops, poured myself a cup of coffee and did some quick revision before heading into my Construction studies exam later that evening.The construction exam is brilliant because you have so much choice! On the paper are ten questions, you only have to answer five which includes one compulsory drawing question. I was devastated to see that the flat roof came up as the drawing question, one of my least favorite chapters. I struggled my through it and onto the U-Value question. In my opinion U-Values are a straight 50 marks. They come up every year without fail and they’re almost always the same question.As I continued I was quite happy with the other choice questions. I did Q3, which was all about redesigning a house, it was a grand old question. I then swiftly moved onto Q4 a question which was about deciding where to put a house in a field, it was quite easy.  Finally, I looked down at my watch to see that I had 36 minutes left, the perfect amount of time to answer my finale question, Q7, another drawing question but this time with a chimney and a slanted roof. I was delighted with this question and I finished it in no time at all.So all in all, I’m pretty happy with how that went. With only two exams left, I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.Please note: blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union. Blogs are updated daily by 6.30 pm on scheduled examination dates.Zeminar is an event for Generation Z, particularly those aged between 15 and 19, and their parents, teachers, mentors and coaches. It will take place from 11th - 13th of October 2016. For more information see www.zeminar.ie