Leaving Cert Maths Paper 2
Keelyn - Higher Level:
The one word I would use to describe this exam is better. Paper two was nicer than paper one. Some of the questions were quite tricky especially the last long question, about a clock of all things. There was a lot of probability and statistics. I'm confident I passed it but I doubt by very much.
Aoife - Ordinary Level:
Maths paper 2..... Well, it wasn't ideal but it was decent... It was expected to be more difficult than paper 1 considering the how straight forward that exam proved to be. I feel some of the questions were just oddly phrased and I spent most of my time trying to figure out what it was asking me rather than actually doing maths. The test overall seemed needlessly complicated in words but once you could decipher it, the "maths" part was actually quite easy.
Brendan - Ordinary Level
This was a much better paper overall than Paper 1. Although parts were tricky, the 70 marks available for the question about the property tax was very straightforward and topical. The questions were not too wordy and in line with what was expected. A question about a windmill was also topical, but slightly more challenging. Section A allocated 50 marks to probability and although definitely not my favorite topic it was generally fine. Questions 3 and 4 were also fairly nice. Most candidates seemed relatively happy. A quick change of focus was undoubtedly needed with Irish in the afternoon and many students, excluding me, can see light at the end of the tunnel with a large chunk of the exams now out of the way. Best of luck with Irish Paper 2!
Please note: blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union.
Leaving Cert Maths Paper 1
Keelyn - Higher Level
Although certain parts of the paper were doable, some of the questions were quite mean especially considering there was no mention of financial maths or algebra. It was mainly to do with arithmetic series and integration. Let's just hope paper two will be more straightforward
Brendan - Ordinary Level
Area and Volume and Co-ordinate Geometry are expected to generally appear on Paper 2, but in going with what seems the general trend of the state examinations so far today bucked the trend and emerged on Paper 1. Apart from that there were no major surprises, although of course some questions proved more challenging than others. A question about the theory behind complex numbers was thought provoking. Overall it was a manageable paper, the final question about the rocket was in particular very straightforward. Most of the candidates seemed reasonably happy with the paper and are now looking forward to a brief rest before diving back into study. Paper 2 is my stronger of the two, and I am looking forward to Monday.
Aoife - Ordinary Level
It would be completely impossible for this exam to have gone any better. Everything was so straight forward, and that 75 marker at the end was the cherry in the cake. The tricky question with the box had me stuck for a while, but it was more manageable when I stopped to think about it. I spend so much time studying for paper two, I was a bit worried with this one but that paper was easier to me than any of the sample papers I did to prepare for the exam. I know many people that were struggling with ordinary maths that were laughing as they came out. I'm hoping for a B with that paper, let's hope paper 2 is as nice. :)
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.
Junior Cert Irish
Sophie - Higher Level
Today was the Irish exam, everyone was terrified coming into school today. When we got paper 1, I had a quick read through it. At the beginning there was the two “Leamhthuiscint”s, they weren’t as bad as I thought they would be. But even before that there was the listening test, I found it very easy. In the “Trialacha Teanga Comhtheacsula ”, I wasn’t very confident. But I gave it my best shot, although I’m not very good at grammar. We had to change the words into the present tense (Aimsir Laithreach ). Everyone was praying for the past tense, but the present tense is pretty easy too.I was really nervous about the “Ceapadoireacht” section at the end. I was so happy when I saw the “Laethanta Saoire” question. I knew exactly what to write. I wrote 2 A4 pages for that question. Which I was overjoyed with because that question was worth 50 marks. Paper 2 I found extremely hard. The unseen “Pros” I wasn’t sure what the story was about. But I think I answered it okay. The “Filiocht” I found average. I definitely answered well.Also the studied poetry was good I could use the poem “An Blascaod Mor Anois” so I was good in the poetry aspect of the paper. The Letter on the other hand, was awful. In my opinion I thought the subjects were very unusual. I ended up writing a letter about a new computer game I had got recently. I was disappointed, as I really studied for the letter but nothing I had studied came up. Tomorrow is Geography and Maths paper1, wish me luck!
Keela - Higher Level
Paper 1.The first part of the exam was the aural section. I found cuid A quite easy as it was easy to understand the people talking and the questions were not hard to understand. Cuid B I found a little harder as the people on the c.d were talking quite fast I thought but still answerable. Cuid C I found the hardest out of all parts of the aural.Next were the Léamhthuiscints. I was happy with the reading comprehensions on The Hobbit and and Festival. I found that they were quite easy to find the answers.I found that the verb section was quite easy as it only have a few verbs to change and it was into the present tense.Also the grammar section I found quite easy as well.The last section on paper 1 was the ceapadoireacht. My class were always told to answer question B part ii about the event that happened. We were taught how to write about a car accident or a fire but suprisingly a funny event that happened in school came up. My class found this quite hard to answer.Paper 2.I started paper 2 off with the Litir as I found it had the most marks for a single question. I answered B and found it easy enough but little bits hard to answer as I was not quite sure what parts of one of the points meant.I then answered the prós question Q.2. part B first.I studied the prós " Díoltas an Mhadra Rua" by Seán Ó'Dálaigh, so I found it quite easy to answer as one of the mothuchains was Díoltas. I found the reading comprehension for prós quite hard at times as I was not sure what the question was saying or what some of the words in the comprehension meant.I then answered the Filíocht question. I answered B for Q.4 .I also found that the studied poem was quite easy to answer and one of the types of people went perfectly with the poem. I finished my paper as much as I could with the unseen poetry . I found this the hardest section as I did not know all of the words from the poems or questions. Though it was hard I tried my best to answer the exams and I'm quite happy.
Please note: blog post reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students' Union.
Leaving Cert English Paper 1
Dylan - Higher Level
Wow what a day it has been. I woke up greeted by bundle of nerves and a knotted stomach. Today was the day. It was English Paper One!! As I sat down in the exam hall and received my answer book, I started filling everything in and had the page folded open and ready to start. I always jump to Section II first and start with the essay as I find it is the longest and it generally decides your overall grade in English. It has for me over the past six years! I looked at the titles once I received the paper and started to die inside. There's always that sense of failure once you scan through the paper because the questions aren't exactly as you prepared. Having calmed down I realised that the first option which was a speech titled ''We live in an un-heroic age'' was an essay I could write on using the essay I wrote on in the mocks on celebrity culture. I pretty much made it fit anyways talking about how celebrities are considered heroes when they really aren't etc. After finishing my four pages in a record breaking 50 minutes, I no longer felt pressured and started reading the three texts. The first one was horrible, the second one was ok and the third one wasn't great either. Having picked text two I started to write to realise it was a handy comprehension. It was an interview with short story writer William Trevor and his approach to writing etc. I finished all questions after one hour which was a bit too long but I was still on track. I looked at Question B then to find that the best one was on Text 2 but No! Dylan answered on Question A making it not possible to answer the Question B on Text 2. As I started complaining to myself I notice how the other two Question B's were dreadful. An introduction for a book and a recommendation of a place in Ireland for tourists to visit. Neither appealed to me so I sat there for about ten minutes complaining how unfair it was. Time was sliding by and I still hadn't started my Question B. 20 minutes remained on the clock and I did an eenie meainie on the two Question B's. I was left with the recommendation and chose Thomond Park. As I started spluttering out all types of cheesy and cringey lines about Thomond Park and how it was a place where magic happened(Yes, I made it out to be like Disneyland). I really do turn into such a creep when I am writing, effects of the Leaving Cert violating my brain and almost leaving me mentally unstable. As I came to page two of throwing cringey sentences down on the paper, the test had finished and the fun part had come. Oh boy did I like sealing the exam with the sticky bit and treasury tag. That is how exciting my life has been the past month. Can't wait for English II tomorrow. If Plath, Mahon or Bishop don't appear on the paper then I mightn't be mentally available to blog tomorrow evening. If there isn't a blog post then you'll understand I hope! Until tomorrow!!!!
Jessica - Higher Level
As I flicked through the pink pages on English paper one I was delighted! None of the questions that I feared appeared but nothing I was rooting for did either! Where was the usual diary entry from question B?? I was quite shocked at the question A's, they were a lot easier than any of the ones I looked through in panic yesterday evening! The theme of the page was 'story-telling' - a very nice one in my opinion! Text 1 of the comprehension was an edited text based on an article 'Tune in Next Week - The Curious Staying Power of the Cliff-hanger' on my first glance at the title and images I thought it was about death I was awful confused upon reading it to find out it was actually about the cliff-hanger endings in tv programmes! This text was my chosen question B - unfortunately the question B's were not good ones at all. The question was to write the text of a talk you would deliver in which you consider the role of tv and radio in the lives on young people today. It was terrible but I'm not sure rambling on about the development of technology was what they were looking for, I'm quite disappointed to say the least. Text two was an interview with Irish writer, William Trevor, on The Art of Fiction, conducted for the Paris Review by Mira Stout. During the exam I only glanced over this one as I wasn't overly keen on either question A or B and I'm not a fan of interviews! I was delighted with text 3. It was the edited text of an article from the Irish Times by Belinda McKeon ''New York stories on a Perfect Platform' celebrating the hundredth anniversary of the opening of New Yorks Grand Central Station! It's was a really interesting article! This was my chosen question A, I feel it was definitely the easiest of the three. I was extremely happy with how it went, so much better than I expected! Although they weren't horrific, I feel the long compositions were extremely specific. There was a speech, two personal essays, a descriptive essay (never seen that before?!), a feature article and a short story. Usually I would opt for the article, I love writing them but I wasn't keen on it this year at all, it was to discuss the competing attractions of both urban and rural lifestyles, seeing as I've lived near the city for so long I don't think i could have made a good argument for the attraction of rural lifestyle at all! I chose question 7, the short story which was about a reunion. Have to say again I definitely felt it was easiest and after giving the exam a post mortem afterwards with my friends, it was the most popular choice! My essay was loosely based on the idea of the popular show Homeland but of course putting my own twist on it. It's such a relief to have the first exam over with and I'm glad it wasn't too horrific!
Jenny - Higher Level
As the examiner told us we could start, there was a rustle of paper as the pages were turned and the texts and composition titles were sought. We were like race horses out of their boxes, raring to go. I immediately looked at the titles and tried to settle down into the first exam which sat before me. I started with the Question A and chose text three as I preferred the Question B from the first text. I had been hoping a letter would come up but a talk on the importance of television and radio in young people's lives didn't seem too terrible. All in all the paper wasn't too bad which seemed to be the general consensus of my fellow students. The composition titles weren't too bad and were quite broad and there seemed to be something for everyone. With paper 1 it's hard to know how well you have done. I'm just grateful for the first test to be done and dusted so we can move on to paper 2 which should be interesting. I wonder if Plath will make an appearance this year...
Nathan - Ordinary Level
Paper 1 has to have been one of the best papers I've ever done. Obviously I was nervous walking in this morning first exam I didn't know what to expect but boy was I wrong for being nervous. When I opened the paper I had a quick look through it and read through the comprehensions and decided what Q-A and what Q-B I was going to do. I soon realised that Micheal McIntyre's autobiography was the Q-3 this made my day as he is my favourite comedian and I have read his book 2-3 times so had a fairly good idea how to answer the questions. The composition was even better. I'm usually fairly good at writing speeches so the Q-7 was the one for me. so far so good. I'll blog again tomorrow 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.
JC Irish Paper 1 & 2
Roisin (Higher Level Irish)
Today we had Irish, papers one and two. They weren't terrible, but they weren't exactly easy either!Paper one started with the listening comprehension, which I felt went pretty well. It was a nice surprise! The first section of the rest of the paper was the reading comprehension, which was, for the most part, pretty straightforward. I was able to understand all the questions and had a good shot at answering them all! The second comprehension was a little bit harder, and I wasn't sure of all the answers. The question where you got a paragraph and had to transpose it in to a different tense was fine because we just had to change it to the nice, easy past tense! The fill-in-the-blanks question was pretty easy too; I was able to put in a word that made sense each time. For the last section, I chose the story about a party. It wasn't a very imaginative or exciting story, but it was a page and a half with some (hopefully) good phrases so hopefully it'll be fine!Paper two was in the afternoon. It started with the ever-dreaded unseen story. It was hard as usual, probably the worst section of the whole subject for me! I chose B for the studied story, and wrote about 'An t-Adh' under the heading of 'saol faoin tuath'. I think I answered it pretty well because I had a good prepared answer. The unseen poetry was next, and I found it easier than usual. One of the poems was about a poodle! I wrote about 'Subh Milis' for the studied poetry, under the heading 'duine uaignach'. I had a good prepared answer for this as well, and I think it was fine. The last section was the letter. I chose B, the one about being away on holiday. Again, it wasn't very imaginative but I think I managed to answer all the requirements, so hopefully it will be okay!Tomorrow we have geography, which needs some looking over, and maths paper 1, which is definitely the easier of the two maths papers, so it won’t be too bad a night!
James (Higher Level Irish)
Today was the second day of the exams. This morning I was quietly confident that the day would go well as I was happy with my two English papers yesterday. I had my two higher level Irish papers to complete today.Paper 1 suited me and I managed to answer everything well. We had a long break of more than 3 hours until Paper 2 started.I thought that this paper was more challenging than the first paper and with duration of just an hour and a half, there was more to write in a shorter length of time. However, it went well and I answered all questions. I think the toughest question of the exam was the unseen poetry on Paper 2.Overall, I'm happy with my Irish exam.
ISSU Commentary (Ordinary Level Irish)
Today’s Junior Cert Ordinary Level Irish paper shouldn’t have posed too many problems for students with some nice questions based on a very clear delivered aural tape.The comprehension section was also extremely fair with a straightforward matching pictures with advertisements exercise followed by question two which consisted of on an advertisement for the National Gallery of Ireland, a safety notice for Bord Gáis and an advertisement for dolphin-spotting boat excursions and question 3 which required students to answer questions on extracts about singer and actress, Miley Cyrus, and the author of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, John Boyne.The final section on composition was very predictable with candidates asked to write a post card home to their parents from a foreign holiday followed by an email to their father about an invite that they had received to a party.All in all, a nice paper!