Leaving Certificate French

Rob - Higher Level

I know for some people this was their last exam, while for me it was my fifth last. I'm not sure whether I'd prefer to be finished my Leaving Cert now, or whether I like having more time to study between subjects.It was strange starting a French exam with the comprehension, for the past 6 years we have always done the listening test first. Both of the texts were straight forward enough I found, especially with the final questions in English. The multi choice questions, however, weren't as obvious as in previous years. Asking about the meaning of a paragraph, I could find two options in one of the texts.I moved onto the written comprehensions and did the first option in question 1 as I cannot for my life write stories. I had revised certain topics the night before, trying to stay topical with topics such as healthcare (Ebola), politics (the referendum) and terrorism (Charlie Hebdo) being my focus, as well as drugs and technology. I was quite happy with the options that came up, especially with the final option on Voting at 16, something ISSU is working towards! I had done my document on Malala Yousafzai and youth politics, so this was really handy for this essay.The listening comprehension started well for me, however on the last section (maybe because it is only played twice) I missed two answers completely, which is annoying. French was okay this year, I have heard easier listening comprehensions but I'm happy with how the topics fell for both the written task and comprehensions (even the one about the wolves!). Now on to German!

Joanna - Higher Level

Getting out of bed was tough, but once I got to school, looked over notes and settled down in the exam hall, it felt grand. I always do the composing section first and quickly write out all the phrases and vocab I had been revising before the exam so I wouldn't stress and pause for too long when writing. It really helped when developing points on the different topics, and I found the choice really good this year. I chose to do a diary entry about a new school uniform, an opinion piece on homelessness and a piece about mobile phone addiction. The comprehensions were okay, although I found the first one a bit more challenging than usual. The second required some manipulation in the answers, and it was really odd (about a couple who had werewolf neighbours) but I got on okay. I was delighted that the last parts (where you answer in English ) were easy enough as well.Having read over my exam paper twice, I was still finished early enough so I went to get some air before the listening exam began. I was delighted that we could have a look at the paper for five minutes before the exam started (if only we could have done the same for the Irish tape test) and everything looked okay. The listening tests is one of my favourite parts of the French exam, so I got on grand.Overall I found this years paper really manageable and although quite a lot of my friends dropped down to ordinary level on the day, the ones who stuck with the higher seemed to get on well too so I'm really happy about that.

Lorraine - Higher Level

Well that's my third long day done and dusted thank god!! Ill start off with French! I went in at half 8 this morning to go over some last minute verbs stuff from the comprehensions with my teacher and I have to say I was glad I did because it was actually useful in the exam! I thought it was a really lovely paper although the comprehension (second one) was just a bit weird about neighbours being wolves!! I didn't have a problem with either comprehension thank god and then I went to the questions!The journal in time was actually a really nice question about your school bringing in a new uniform and your refusing to wear it that was fairly nice. The questions themselves were also lovely! I had been trying to predict topics and had it wittled down to water charges, ebola, emigration, unemployment, racism, terrorism, voting, gay marriage, role of women in the home, the points system, pocket money and obesity with sport..very wittled down. I was delighted to see the question on voting at 16 and the question on pocket money was lovely too! Oh and the first compulsory question I did was on how to solve he problem with homelessness which I was also really happy with.I got 40% in my premocks in French and 61% in my mocks in French and I can honestly say I worked my ass off at French since Christmas. I truly felt today that it paid off. I will actually miss speaking and studying French a lot. All in all, a lovely paper!! :)Please note: Blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union.

Leaving Certificate Biology

Lorraine - Higher Level

Hi all! :) Well I'm just out of Biology and I have to admit I am fairly disappointed. As someone who has never been mad on Biology but gotten good grades after the mocks I really kicked myself even though I got a B and I attackedBiology properly. I did every exam paper, repeatedly went through on line videos, wrote out notes and flashcards and really tried to drill it into my head but that exam was awful. First of all, I didn't even know where to start with the short questions!! The last one, Q6, was literally 2 definitions that I have never seen before! I made a stab at them but I know my answers were wrong. I'm normally a big banker on Section A and Section B to pull me through Biology but today, I was really let down. The section A questions just seemed very different than other years and I was really disappointed.Section B was ok enough, although I completely forgot about the diagrams for fungi reproduction! :P Section C though I can honestly say I found really really hard. I always try and skip genetics because me and the crosses just do not work together but today I actually had to do genetics question because I was lost on the paper.After the exam from talking to everyone else, everyone thinks that we were really unlucky with a really horrible paper. I have to say I'm really disappointed as I had started to enjoy Biology but at this point in time, I'm hoping I at least got a D-C because that was an awful paper!I'm going to go cram some History and French for tomorrow- I think only an hour break betweenthese papers is ridiculous!

Joanna - Higher Level

It was a long paper and although parts got me stuck, thankfully there is always some choice, so I think I did well in it. The time in Biology is not tight at all, so it's grand in terms of taking your time with everything and then reading back over it.I found the first section easy enough. The second one, I answered the questions that were needed and then I did one extra in the last section. The paper seemed a bit different to me than papers in previous years, but maybe its just the sleep deprivation from the last two nights. There was a picture e of a dogs teeth on one page and a reflex arc (my favourite) on another. I don't know, I was so tired going in to the exam, all I can remember is writing answers and then cycling home... Thank god these last two days are over. Two exams per day, twice in a row should not be happening! Well, I'm finally over half way there (7 exams out of 11 done) so I'm delighted that the end of these exams is near :)

Isabelle - Higher Level

Biology has always been one of my better subjects, but due to being overwhelmed and and overtired as well as a lack of preparation my mock result didn't reflect that at all, and so I made sure I was prepared for today! I left Irish a bit early and went to cram as many definitions as I could!I thought the paper couldn't have suited me any better to be honest, everything I had crammed came up and everything I had avoided was avoidable (and also that guy who predicts papers on YouTube got the experiments spot on, shout out to him for saving me today) I came out of the paper feeling pleased that I had done as much as I could have done, and I know I certainly improved on my mock grade!However, the majority of my friends didn't feel this way at all, and I certainly can see how many people came out unhappy! Weird topics came up together (reproductive system with nervous system) and some of the questions were phrased really oddly too! I guess with such a big course it really is the luck of the draw and you can't learn everything, but seeing as so many people found it difficult lets just pray for a nice marking scheme.

Leah - Higher Level

Oh lord. Where to even begin with Biology. After that thrilling and soothing morning with such a beautiful Irish Paper, I will admit that I may have gotten too laid back. Biology brought me right back to the terrors of exams though. I am not even ashamed to admit that I wanted to cry over the paper.My entire paper was nothing less than a train wreck; partially because of the paper and partially because Biology is my worst subject. The Paper made me feel like I had done no study all year - not effective study anyway. The only consolation in that entire question were the Ecology sections. Apart from that though, I spent at least an hour and a half of the three hour long exam staring at the blanks on my paper. I feel like Irish Paper II worked against us to trick us into a sense of false security and then Biology showed up and shot us all with gamma rays or something. I was even contemplating on whether to take an Ordinary Level exam or not. Maybe I should have.All in all - Biology was a bit of muck. 0/10, would not recommend. It's all over now though. Now I get the sweet bliss of 9 days exam-free, until the 19th where I will have Religion and Japanese. I will of course be back here then to let you all know how they went but, until then, I wish you luck. Catch you on the (almost) flip side.Please note: Blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union.

Junior Certificate Business

Art - Higher Level

Business Paper One: Beginning with the short questions; overall they didn't seem to be too challenging. Common sense and a hint of good memory would get you through I thought. For those trying to avoid accounting, there was no chance in section one! A nice bit of explaining was needed too but honestly they were pretty nice to us.On to section two (long questions). I gave myself two hours to do these and lads, believe me I needed it. I began with the household budget (Q1) which seemed a bit shorter and easier than usual. More of your own calculations were needed however than reading straight from the paper. This was followed up with some general questions on budgeting. Not too bad I thought. Then I moved onto Q3, all about the national budget and expenditure. This was very doable I thought. A simple T shaped account, a bar chart and a few explanations were needed for the 40 marks. On to the consumer question. This required a firm knowledge on insurance which fortunately I was ok with having studied it the previous night. Consumer rights seeped in there too if I'm not mistaken. Finally, I went on and did question 6 on People at Work. This was all about explaining terms, the content of CV's and trade unions. A fairly handy question.Overall I was really happy with paper one, though I may have lost a few easy marks here and there. A fair paper nonetheless.Business Paper Two: For some reason or another, maybe all this warm weather I went into paper two feeling like I was fit to sleep for a week. However, I pulled myself together and at two o'clock went straight down to business (pardon the pun). I was most confident with the final accounts question and immediately submerged myself into the figures and thank God had a balancing balance sheet within a half an hour. Then we had to explain carriage inwards, which seemed pretty easy. I then went at the report writing/business insurance question which seemed to be a bit too similar to another long question on paper one. Anyway, three quarters of the marks for that were writing up a report on suggested insurance which wasn't overly challenging. Though I went slightly blank when it came to explaining one or two of the five principles. The final ten marks were for explaining adequate insurance and a simple calculation of compensation.I then tackled the chains of production question. I thought this was tricky in parts as I hadn't covered it in a while. This was my poorest question overall. However I persevered and jotted down as much as I could. Hopefully I'll pick up a good few of the marks. Maybe it was my choice of questions or the relaxed attitude of males but at half three when I was going onto my final question I found many of my classmates were wrapping up entirely. I wasn't sure if that was a good sign or a bad sign! Anyway, I concluded with the cash flow forecast which I was so relieved worked out perfectly, as one figure throws everything out and you're often left painting the page in tippex. A couple of unusual questions followed this up and I'm not certain if I explained them correctly as we were only given one line to. I'll try not to overthink it.Overall, paper two seemed pretty good. A bit harder than paper one. Hopefully between the two I can pull in an A or high B, with the help of God!Please note: Blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union.

Leaving Certificate Irish Paper 2

Rob - Higher Level

Rumours had been going around that we would get a poem or prós that had already been examined, so I spent all this morning learning the facts about the poets of Mo Ghrá-sa and An t-Earrach Thiar, as well as Coldcaradh and Géibheann. I was banking in either Cáca Milis or An Gnáthrud to appear for Prós, it had been a long time since we had studied the other 3 options. I studied A Thig Ná Tit Orm for my Litríocht Breise and I always liked it, except the question in the mock had not been very clear. I was apprehensive going into this exam, as just like English Paper 2, my result would come down to pure chance.I was delighted to see the options come up as they did. I found both of the comprehensions relatively clear and easy to understand. Even the grammar questions were not too hard to find. The topics were interesting and I had followed the "One Young World" conference when it was happening last year, so I knew what the topic was about.The question for Cáca Milis about Catherine was straightforward, as were the three for Colscaradh. While I found the question on Maidhc's interest in football and music to be a bit limiting. In "A Thug Ná Tit Pen", I'm fairly satisfied with the answer I wrote.Overall I'm quite surprised how straight forward both the papers in Irish were his year. Since it seems most people feel the same, I'm wondering now how strict the marking scheme will be. We're past the halfway point, only five more exams to go!

Joanna - Higher Level

I woke up with my stomach in a knot this morning. I was tired and had two tough exams to get through. Thankfully, it was early enough to eat, do some revision and then cycle peacefully to school, so by the time I arrived I was a lot calmer. Many thanks to Rob for his tip on Pros and Filiocht, it saved me a lot of nerves in the morning!I was hoping for a nice character question for "An Triail" and it came up (woo) so I did that first. Then Caca Milis and Colacaradh. I left the comprehensions till last and just highlighted answers in the texts, then re-wrote them in the answer booklet and had just enough time to write out good long answers for the question 6 (b) parts. I was also delighted to see Aimsir Laithreach and Aimsir Fhaistineach in the grammar sections, nothing completely strange or impossible to figure out.Overall, it was a really manageable paper and I was relieved when it was done, although my hand was kinda sore and I was starving!

Lorraine - Ordinary Level

Hey all! :)Sorry I wasn't on yesterday-crazy day! I woke up feeling really sick and not from nervous unfortunately :P Anyway I thought the papers were really nice yesterday exactly what we deserved so today, naturally enough, they had to be horrible, and I think they were! Irish Paper 2 wasn't an exam I can say that I was worried about but I, like many other ordinary level students, only studied the stories and poems that didn't come up last year. In my blissful ignorance I thought sure why would they trick us into putting last years stories this year? And as usual, I was wrong!:PI had spent a long time going over gnathrud last night because our teacher had warned us it was looking like a likely question and it did make an appearance on both mock papers! I wasn't too worried about the poetry and the reading comprehensions. The first comprehension was about Rory McIllroy and I found it easy enough. Next there was a comprehension on Hilary Clinton which was all grand. I couldn't believe my eyes though when I turned the page and saw Oisin IdTir na nOg and Hurlamaboc...I'm not going to lie I actually did check to make sure my paper was 2015. A cruel trick SEC, a very cruel trick! I decided that I'd come back to it when Id got my head around the fact that I had wasted valuable time cramming the wrong stories and I continued onto the poetry. I found the poetry fine- An tEarrach Thiar and Mo Gra Sa Idir luibini- my other prediction! The questions were very straightforward the usual themes. I turned back to the story section after I was finished the poetry and I started Hurlamaboc, I knew my Irish was bad trying to explain it but I did remember the story. Oisin was another problem though and I feel sorry for the examiner correcting it. At the end of the day, they aren't worth enough marks for me to be super upset about so you win some you lose some!! Once I don't start writing Irish during French tomorrow Ill be fine :D

Isabelle - Higher Level

I found myself quite nervous going in to Irish as, like the majority of the country, I was going in with only 2/5 covered for the prós and poetry! But thankfully, paper 2 had been just as nice as paper 1 and everyone was pleased to find colscaradh and cáca milis just had they had suspected! With very nice questions, might I add.For my studied text I did "A Thig na Tit orm", and I found the question a bit tedious. It didn't leave much room for elaboration, but I did my best with what I had prepared! The reading comprehensions were a bit repetitive, although I found the one on "One Young World" quite interesting as I had followed the story of Yeonmi Park before! I had half an hour to spare so I packed up my stuff and ran off to cram as much biology as possible!Overall, I found this years Irish papers very approachable (and predictable thank the lord).

Leah - Higher Level

Well, wasn't today just completely jam packed! My morning began with Irish Paper II, the same as many people. I was forced to rush my way out of my house when I realised I was almost late for my exam after some intense, last minute, frantic revision.I arrived at school in the nick of time and I proceeded to hesitantly open my exam paper, as I had my doubts that I expressed in yesterday's blog post on Irish Paper I. Anyway, as I opened the paper and began to flick through the paper, my smile got bigger and bigger again until I was beaming.The Léamhthuiscints were each dreamy. They were so easy, compared to my mocks! I didn't even mind the Question 6(b)'s - they were the nicest questions of those kinds I've ever seen. Even better than that was that I, for once, could actually comprehend the comprehensions.I continued on to do the question on Cáca Milis and, let me tell you, I breathed a sigh of manic relief. If the question had turned out to be on Seal i Neipeal, I would've walked out of the exam centre. And don't even get me started on how Colscaradh came up! Of my god, we were definitely one of the luckier exam years :)Finally, I went onto the last page and I wasn't too thrilled about the question on An Trial but it wasn't horrible. I was only sorry I ran out of time. Other than that though, I am absolutely delighted with Irish Paper II. Now I only have Japanese to get through in the language department and then we'll all be free to enjoy our summers! Cheers to that.Please note: Blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union.

Leaving Certificate Maths Paper 2

Rob - Higher Level

I was feeling quite disheartened after the mess I made of Maths Paper 1, however Paper 2 I think will bring my grade up. I knew my theorems and proofs going into the exam so was happy to see two of them on the paper. I think the paper was clear and concise, requiring a lot of thinking but still doable. The latter parts of question 8 (involving sequences and series) were different to what I've seen before, I found them difficult to approach.Overall I'm much happier with paper 2 than paper 1. I think it was a fair yet still challenging paper. On to learning essays for Irish in just over an hour!

Joanna - Higher Level

A few people hinted to me to have a look at theorem eleven before I go into the exam... I try not to listen to tips like that because I hate the idea of gambling at an exam which is going to set me on a track for the next few years. But, I must admit, I did go over how to prove that transversal lines going through three parallels can form a paralellogram and thus it can be proved that they are cut into equal segments... And there you go, it was there!That was the first question I attempted and next the construction, both went smoothly and I had no problems with question one. My memory of the rest of the exam is a bit fuzzy, I do remember my delight at the amount of co-ordinate geometry of the circle and trigonomoetry (I had been revising shapes and circles a lot yesterday I really enjoy puzzling out measurements and points on the co-ordinate plane). Following Joan on her awful attempt at golf was actually alright, and I managed to figure out most of the odd machine part and was just on the last part when time ran out. I sketched a really quick picture of what I was going to find out and put down the formula I would have used, if I had the time. Hopefully that will count for something!Overall I was happy with the paper. Yes, there were parts that I got stuck on, or where the answers I got didn't seem to work out so I had to try again and that's probably how I ran out of time, but I also managed to apply lots of what I knew and I was happy that I filled every blank on the paper. I'm a little unhappy that my aim for this maths was to pass and not to score higher, but for a long time I wasn't confident at all doing the new Project Maths and even now, looking at the sample SEC papers gives me shivers. I'm more enthusiastic about maths today than I was at the start of fifth year, so hopefully the result I get in August will reflect it. Well, I'm fairly confident I didn't fail the papers, so whatever grade comes out, I'll celebrate it. I hope others felt okay about it too :)

Leah - Ordinary Level

Hello all, I hope you're feeling ok after Maths this morning. As I previously stated, I thought Paper I was great but, I have to say - Paper II knocked me about the place. Right from the get go, I had vague ideas on what to do but that was as good as it got. I guess that's what I get for being so cocky about Paper I!I did quite like the last question, it was easy enough and it had a lot of parts to it where you could pick up handy little marks. I liked that a lot as it was a great comfort to me. I'm sorry to say that the rest of the questions were not as nice, however.All in all, maths was ok I thought but I definitely preferred Paper I. I keep referring back to my little mantra though: attempt marks are key! I'm sure we all did our very best and, look at it this way - if Paper I was really that bad, they'd have to bring down the marking Scheme.I'm ecstatic that maths is over now and roll on the remainder of our exams. Keep up the good work and it'll all be over soon :)Please note: Blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union.

Junior Certificate CSPE - Civic, Social & Political Education

Art - Common Level

The relaxed attitudes of students across the school, coming up from a lunch time game of football spoke wonders in itself. ''Oh sure it's only CSPE...''. The exam paper itself reflected this I believe. Four pictures of buildings; Áras an Úachtairáin, The Four Courts, The Central Bank and Leinster house appeared and students were to match them to the provided images. Very handy I thought. The short questions were also a bit too manageable. The Document Questions included a piece on recycling and the water charges which was naturally was a bit of fun to argue out on the page. UN Peacekeeping, The Nobel Peace Prize and European Elections also came up. For my long question I decided to write about the Ombudsman for Children. Two pages in I had just finished the six mark letter question. With time to burn I managed another two pages on the extra sheet provided.The second part was on reasons why it is important for children to take part in appointing the ombudsman. Finally, you had to give 3 ideas on promoting Children's Rights. Easy! Was very happy with it I must say. Though I am a little concerned about the reputation of the subject and lack of challenge behind it for the most part!

Helen - Common Level

I like it when you can walk into an exam and know that you have 60 per cent of it completed already. The short questions were a mix between organisations and your European studies along with a few others. I did questions 1,2 and 3 which were about Malala, Aid etc. For the long questions, I choose to go with Question 1, which was centered around the Special Olympics. I felt happy with how this paper went.

Jane - Common Level

Ahhhh, CSPE. After getting full marks in my pre I wasn't too stressed about my junior cert, and we already had 60% of the exam done so I was pretty happy going in. I love CSPE, due to my involvement with student politics and Comhairle na nÓg, so when most other people had left the exam centre an hour in, I was on my sixth A4 page of my long question! (Yes I wrote eight A4 pages on the ombudsman for children).It might sound totally ridiculous, but I am really passionate about children's rights and really value the presence of the ombudsman, so I enjoyed talking about my feelings towards the role. I'm very happy with how the exam went, and looking forward to receiving my result in September. All I'm hoping is that my examiner is equally passionate about the ombudsman, and doesn't mind reading eight pages of my scrawled handwriting on a hot summers day!Please note: Blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union.