When did you do the Leaving Cert and how did you do in it?

bdoo

Did it in 2000. Did 6 honours and pass maths. got 500.

I was too lazy to do honours maths. pulled the plug on it at Christmas - teacher was raging with me on about keeping my options open and stuff. i was confident that id have enough points to do my course and wouldn't need to count maths.

I am teaching now myself. I think the whole points system ia a joke. there are really good kids i know who will get close to 600 and feel that they have to do medicine with those points - will they make the best doctors?

The last time I told anyone what I get in my LC was in 2000. Nobody cares. Its not the be all and end all. the media make such hype out of it.

trying to sell newspapers with so called expert advice by expert teachers. teaching isn't all about getting every kid who pays 7000 a year to get an A in your /every subject. There's as much value in getting a kid to finish out school and go on to an apprenticeship or whatever this has no societal value in the ears of the media.

Unfortunately to viewpoint hasn't changed since the death of the Celtic tiger that the LC is the most important thing ever and kids are still put under desperate pressure. anything over 300 points is a good LC imo.

**** rant ends ****

dfx-

425 points in 2003

Maths H B3
Chemistry H C1
Irish H B3
Biology H B1
German H B1
English H C3
Business Studies H C3

I remember

- Taking a special effort to go back through Biology papers to the 70s as it was the last year of the old course and anything was supposed to come up.

- Absolutely not giving two sh!tes about English (and less so Business) by the time of the exam. I didn't take well to 'Scuts'..

- Not realising how important the results were until I was halfway there on the bus of the morning to collect my results. The points were more or less as I expected.

-Wishing I had done all three science subjects - Physics instead of Business.

Now a postgrad in Chemistry, I get to see the standard of students coming through with high points or the high achieving mentality...trying to tell them that 7/10 is as good as 10/10 is difficult.

Eve_Dublin

1999. I did zero for my LC. Got caught up with a boy and never stopped nattering in class and I was chronically lazy and didn't have much faith in my abilities anyway. Studied the night before and that's it (not saying that with any kind of pride btw). Got 3 honours in honours subjects....history, Irish and English (I listened in those classes and I'd great teachers for them), 2 honours in pass and 2 ds in pass. Some subjects you can't blag. Saying that, I wouldn't have done it differently if I went back now. I'm simply not the studious type although I sometimes wonder how I would've done if I'd applied myself.....

Benicetomonty

Anna Nicole wrote: »

How has nobody got less then 450 points? Sure we must be a nation of geniuses!

Genii

Dravokivich

Did back in 2003. Not sure how many points I got, never added'em up as it wasn't needed for my course. Recon I got more than poor old humperdink did in the eurovision by a smidge.

Teyla Emmagan

1992. Got 455 which was really good back then but only average now!

Can't believe it is 20 years ago and that, somehow, I am 37 years!

Toby Take a Bow

Oranage2 wrote: »

Fail this and you have no future!!!! I repeat fail and no future. Ok now I've said that - No Pressure -

I guess you're joking, but it should probably be said: there are ways of getting around a bad leaving cert result. Repeating. Getting that college course from some other avenue. Or realising that college might also lead you to eating pizza alone in your ma's house while you sign on.

I got 330 points and I did the Leaving Cert in 1999. Ended up doing a course I didn't really want to do, but ended up loving it. Back in college now because of the recession, doing something which - at an undergrad level - would've been way too high on the points scheme for me to have even contemplated back in the leaving cert.

dulpit

2004, got 445 points. 6 honours subjects, 1 pass (French), but couldn't tell you what I got in each (except that I got an A1 in Accounting).

Things went a bit pear-shaped in college, but now have a job and am working on a second degree through Open University, so yay for that...

The Cool

2007, got 460 points with 7 Honours. Did an average amount of work for it really, I'd gotten 430 in my mocks and I only needed 350 for Arts in NUIG so I was happy out. My parents did ask me at the time why didn't I go for something with higher points like OT, but I always wanted to do languages so I was just lucky not to have had to worry about getting in.

Anna Nicole

Benicetomonty wrote: »

Genii

genius
 
Pronunciation: /ˈdʒiːnɪəs/
noun (plural geniuses)
1 [mass noun] exceptional intellectual or creative power or other natural ability:
she was a teacher of genius
[in singular]:
that woman has a genius for organization
2an exceptionally intelligent person or one with exceptional skill in a particular area of activity:
a mathematical genius
3 (plural genii /-nɪʌɪ/) (in some mythologies) a spirit associated with a particular person, place, or institution.
a person regarded as exerting a powerful influence over another for good or evil:
he sees Adams as the man’s evil genius
4the prevailing character or spirit of something:
Boucher’s paintings did not suit the austere genius of neoclassicism. Oxford dictionary.

Padkir

2008 - 545 points!

Honours
A1 in Accounting & History
A2 in Business, Biology and English
B3 in French

Pass
A1 in Maths
B2 in Irish


Took up Business outside school in November of LC year so I could drop to pass maths, great call by me!!

Logical Fallacy

Oranage2 wrote: »

I did.

I should have listened to all those people that said it was the most important exam of my life.

quarter of a century on I'm 43 on the dole living at home with my mother and have a marijuana addiction and do deliveries for the local pizza joint part time.

So to any kid reading this now that has their leaving cert tomorrow, get studying and some sleep. Fail this and you have no future!!!! I repeat fail and no future. Ok now I've said that - No Pressure -

No.

You don't.

Ellis Dee

1960

Honours in Irish and English

The ordeal of the Screechin' Butchers' school over, I was able to begin my education, mostly outside Ireland. :)

FatherLen

did mine in 06 and unfortunately i was in the rebellious teen phase and had myself convinced i didn't need to study. got 345 points. i was happy at the time but now not so much, i reckon i could have done a lot better.

arybvtcw0eolkf

Leaving cert, lol.. I left school when I was 13 (no kidding).

I've done pretty good for myself, however I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. But its how I grew up, I don't think any of my mates from those days stayed past maybe their 13th or 14th birthday.

In fact my two kids are now the first from my family to go onto third level education and I'm pretty proud of that.

But all through their schooling, and during a particularly difficult time when one of my son's class mates commit suicide on her junior cert results, I told them never to feel under pressure to go after results and reminded them that no one ever died of starvation in this country because they didn't do a leaving cert.

Btw, I've often thought of taking the leaving now in my 40's

Logical Fallacy

Harvey Dry Revenge wrote: »

Btw, I've often thought of taking the leaving now in my 40's

My Dad is doing it this year and he is 65, never too old if it's something you want to do.

Muzi5434

2007 - 340 points

cena

I did grand. Did it in 2004 L.C.A AND 2006 LC.

Deus Ex Machina

CJC999 wrote: »

Really or are you being sarcastic???

No, I'm quite serious. Didn't you see my thread?

ballsymchugh

Daisy03 wrote: »

Why do people say all honours rather than their points? Never understood this... You can do all honours subjects but get D's but I'd rate an A at ordinary level above this! For the record I did "all honours" in 2007 and got 545 points.

the new points system came in in the mid 90s. before that, all that really mattered was what honours you got (a-c in higher level)
each college had it's own points system, where you could get something like 25 points for trinity, and 50 and a half points for an NUI college with the same grades.

for the record, i did it in 1996 and again in 1997
repeating was the best decision i ever made.

Galwayguy35

Harvey Dry Revenge wrote: »

Leaving cert, lol.. I left school when I was 13 (no kidding).

I've done pretty good for myself, however I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. But its how I grew up, I don't think any of my mates from those days stayed past maybe their 13th or 14th birthday.

In fact my two kids are now the first from my family to go onto third level education and I'm pretty proud of that.

But all through their schooling, and during a particularly difficult time when one of my son's class mates commit suicide on her junior cert results, I told them never to feel under pressure to go after results and reminded them that no one ever died of starvation in this country because they didn't do a leaving cert.

Btw, I've often thought of taking the leaving now in my 40's

I did it and never needed it. I think the Leaving Cert is overrated. When kids are doing it they think their life will end if they don't do well but it's a small part of life really.

shopaholic01

Galwayguy35 wrote: »

I did it and never needed it. I think the Leaving Cert is overrated. When kids are doing it they think their life will end if they don't do well but it's a small part of life really.

It's amazing how you believe that your entire future is dependant on your LC results. Students become stressed, depressed and suicidal over these exams. It's all points, points, points. No one is told about PLC courses etc - if you need to you delay college/uni by one year and repeat or do a PLC course. The world does not stop turning if you don't get your points.

I did it in 2002. Was going through a very difficult stage in my life at the time (still sort of going through it now) and as such I didn't really do as well as I wanted to. I immediately got work in my intended field however, so it hasn't been a problem so far.

Aoifey!

I did the Leaving in 2010 and got 405 points. Didn't do too much work, got grinds in Biology so I went from failing the mock to a B2 in the real thing. Besides that I just studied the last few weeks.

KittyeeTrix

Abi wrote: »

You've absolutely nothing to be embarrassed about. Your leaving cert can be used in the points system if you intend to use them when trying to gain a college place under the age of 21. After that you may apply as a mature student, where the points system can be disregarded if you can present a genuine interest or job related history for the course you wish to apply for.

Never, ever, put yourself down. There are opportunities for everyone, it just takes positivity and determination.

Well said Abi....

I sat the LC in 1991 and got 4 C's and an A in pass subjects. Failed History miserably and only got a D in pass maths.

I went to NUIG in 2008 as a Mature Student to study Science and was awarded a 1.1 in Microbiology only two weeks ago. Point I'm making is that I wasn't ready back in 1991 to do what I was capable of:)

AhInFairness

425 in 2002. My mother referred to me as jammy, such was the amount of work I did. I'm one of those students that teachers always say has so much potential and does enough to do ok, but never really push myself.

I was aware that I only needed 350 to do an Arts degree and also that I would be deferring college for a year to go travelling, so I wasn't exactly killing myself.

I'm quite happy with my marks though. I now have a degree and a masters and am working in my chosen area. All good

KatieMM

kraggy wrote: »

Has anyone here heard of someone in their 30s going to a private school for a year and repeating? Or public school for that matter?

Do any public/private schools let older people in?

Or has anyone heard of someone older studying on their own for it?

hi Kraggy & everyone.

Yes you can do it at any stage of your life!

I was immature and didn't know what I was at/what I wanted when doing the Leaving the first time around in 2000. did alright n went to college.

finished that degree, still lost, worked for a few years, sorted myself out, decided to go back and repeat the Leaving for the course i wanted. may not have done it if i didn't have to have leaving cert science subjects for the course I wanted. anyway, knew id always have a chip on my shoulder, that I could've done better.

I looked into doing it in a repeat year at private school, fees were incredible. I think €5000. so that was out. so i moved home to the folks and attended a repeat year in a public school. am sure they wondered if i was having a breakdown or something but fair play they stood by me.

I was 22 at the time. the year was people who'd done the Leaving the year previous, me, and another guy who wanted to fix his life! i attended the classes, handed in homework (cringe) and got on with it & the class. most of the courses had changed, i took on chemistry (had to, hated it), business and history (bloody loved it). the look on the Irish oral's fella's face when I told him my age etc.....:eek:

will never forget the day opening my results. I cried with relief and pride. got my course and have since finished my degree. if i have any advice: if you want it go and get it & have faith, nobody will do it for you. but remember you need to look after yourself first. it's never too late. best wishes to all doing the exams now!

cynder

Left school at 11 in 1991,I never went to secondary school, I was 3 months into 5th class when I left. I went back in 2002, did the LCA a 2 year course and got 196 points out if a possible 200. The place I did it did not offer the leaving cert, I really wanted to do higher subjects in the leaving cert.

Sir Oxman

1984 - Two higher honours in English (B) & History (A+), a bunch of C's in pass papers (Maths, French, Biology, Geography) an E (Irish) and an NG (Chemistry) !

GrumPy

2006 - Got 250 points and failed Irish & Biology.

Graduated from third level last year and work for a Fortune 500 company.

Problem, cúnt teachers?

KittyeeTrix

GrumPy wrote: »

2006 - Got 250 points and failed Irish & Biology.

Graduated from third level last year and work for a Fortune 500 company.

Problem, cúnt teachers?

Me too..... Got my results 2 weeks ago and work for a Fortune 500 Company now as well!!:D

Teyla Emmagan

.

Esoteric_

2006. 525 as far as I can remember. A1 in higher level Irish and higher level English were the two that made my year.

That said, the results meant nothing. I went to DCU, finished, and now work in a fast food restaurant. :rolleyes: Back to college in September to re-train, because despite working in retail since I was 15, I have no desire to stay in that industry.

Cruel Sun

I've been doing mine over the last few days, and I have more next week and the week after.

Esoteric_

Martin_94 wrote: »

I've been doing mine over the last few days, and I have more next week and the week after.

Ah God, you're only a little 'un! Good luck with the rest of them, I'm sure you'll do well!

Cork24

2006 didn't study one bit, did good I like physics so I did great in that

rummybyrd

I did it in 1989 - got two C's and an E on honours and 2 B's and 2 C's on pass papers. Failed business studies got a course in an IT to do computers (had never turned one on at that time!!). Now a lecturer for the past 15 years, have my PhD - so my lesson is if you fail it doesn't mean you have failed you can also go on and do better than the leaving cert

KittyeeTrix

Martin_94 wrote: »

I've been doing mine over the last few days, and I have more next week and the week after.

Best of luck with your exams!! My son born in '94 is doing his as well:)
Best wishes for both of ye:)

Ms.M

Over a decade ago now.
I'm so old.
All honours. As in Irish and English, B in Maths, B in French and Biology, then two Cs but I don't like to talk about them.
Got As in my first two exams....
Bs in my next three....
Then Cs in my last two even though they were ages apart because I was absolutely WRECKED!
Teaching now so maybe I'll change the system from the inside. Or at least encourage copious drinking of red-bull :rolleyes:

Fbjm

2011 here, sure I got hundreds of points.

pbthevet

2004, 600 points

Birdie086

1999, subjects - Higher - English, French, Irish, Physics, Chemistry, Business, and Ordinary level Maths,
Can't remember exact results except the total points were 395

Sleepy

1998. Got 485 but largely because business subjects were always easy for me and I ditched Irish (got a C3 in pass) to read the Preacher comic book series instead of wasting my time studying something I saw (and still see) as useless.

The result I'm still proudest of was the worst of my honours subjects: a C3 in Maths having been told to drop to pass by my teacher at the time.

jos28

1977, 3 real honours, 3 red honours and 1 pass. Didn't give a sh1t, I had other things on my mind - 1977 was a fantastic long, hot summer, great music, great memories. Fast forward 35 years and I am graduating this year with a BA(Hons). Took me a while but I had a lot of fun on the way:D

ToddyDoody

2003, 290 with a good old E in english. Worked really hard too. No college offers. Apparently 300 was the average score at the time? Brightest penny in the fountain i am certaintly not. Repeated in a grinds school in 2004 and upped the score to 425 making it definately worth the effort and expense. Got an honour in physics. Went on to do okay in college (science) but well in grad school (engineering) but badly (so far) in the employment market. The main outcome of the experience: dont have children.

JayeL

1999, 280 points.

Was sure I was going to a PLC course in journalism so I only needed a C in honours English. Beyond that, I did awful - had house party the night before my French exam and got a D, got an F in Biology.

Had no interest in school, wandered into a media course, did nothing with that or journalism after I realised I wouldn't be paid for ages and would never have job security.

13 years later and I've managed to hold down a job in an area I'm interested in and enjoy that helps gives me a life I love. If anything, I wish I hadn't gone to college so I could go back as a mature student at 23 to do something totally different - I was too young to have a clue at 17.

Firefox11

1990. All i can remember about my leaving were the world cup matches!:D